The Penalty on Vini Wasn't the Only Thing, Another VAR Decision Outrages Real Madrid

The narrow victory of Real Madrid against Rayo Vallecano has left several points of analysis for the upcoming matches of the white team. One of those issues, as has repeatedly occurred in recent matches of the white team, is the refereeing controversy.

Once again, the refereeing received by Real Madrid leaves dissatisfaction and clear signs of indignation in the offices of Valdebebas. The most striking play that Hernández Maeso and Quintero González failed to see was the penalty on Vinícius Jr. during the 2nd minute of the match.

The verdeamarelo striker, after a good run into the opponent's area, fell to the ground. Hernández Maeso signaled a goal kick, but Vinícius claimed he had been stepped on... while at the same time wondering why the video refereeing system and its manager, Quintero González, hadn't alerted him to the possible penalty.

The step on the Real Madrid footballer, just as the match started, remained in limbo due to the refereeing at Santiago Bernabéu. Besides the analysis of that image, Real Madrid also doesn't seem very happy with the management of another controversial play in the same match.

Double Standard?

Once again, Vinícius was the protagonist. Over an hour into the match, the São Gonçalo striker fell again in the opponent's area, pursued and harassed by a Rayo Vallecano defender who was risking a red card. However, Hernández Maeso and Quintero González detected the existence of a clear offside by Vinícius at the start of that play.

According to competitive rules, the rest of the actions and possible infractions are nullified by the existence of a prior infraction already sanctioned by the match referees. The correct refereeing of this obvious offside has reminded Real Madrid of the management of an identical play by Cordero Vega in the Las Palmas-FC Barcelona.

In that match, Eric García committed a clear handball penalty that went to limbo, albeit correctly, due to the existence of a prior offside. Up to four Las Palmas strikers were in an off-side position... but Cordero Vega still went to the VAR monitor to review the possible penalty by Eric García, even though it was a play without any basis because it was already offside.

Those different criteria applied regarding VAR in each match, as in other aspects of refereeing, considerably annoy Real Madrid. Because Cordero Vega reviewed a penalty that 'didn't exist' due to the prior offside by Las Palmas, a resolution contrary to the correct way to definitively solve the play... as demonstrated by Hernández Maeso and Quintero González in the Real Madrid-Rayo Vallecano.