Real Madrid Confidencial Real Madrid's response to the penalty awarded by VAR against Real Sociedad
With everything more than decided, the referees begin to review all the controversial plays of Real Madrid
Melero López, referee of the Real Madrid – Real Sociedad match in the last LaLiga round, awarded a penalty in favor of the white team. This is how Kylian Mbappé's first goal came to put the white team ahead on the scoreboard. The referee pointed out a handball by Pablo Marín, the visiting player, which he initially hadn't seen on the field.
The action occurred in a play inside the area led by Arda Güler, when PabloMarín touched the ball with his hand. Although Melero López didn't notice it live, Figueroa Vázquez from the VAR alerted him to review the play. After reviewing on the screen, the referee awarded a penalty.
Kylian Mbappé was responsible for taking the penalty, scoring his 30th goal in the League and positioning himself as the leader in the Golden Boot ranking. Later, the Frenchman would score another to seal the victory against Real Sociedad.
Why now?
The striking thing about this penalty, which was indisputably clear, is the timing of its review. Now that LaLiga is already decided and Real Madrid has nothing at stake, that's when the referees do go to the VAR. In this context, Melero López, after being alerted by FigueroaVázquez from the VOR room, reviewed the play and pointed out the infraction.
The criticism that many raise is that this type of decision, which previously seemed to go unnoticed, is now made with total normality. Just at the moment when the leader can't change and everything is more than decided. A situation that has reopened the debate about the consistency in the application of the VAR throughout the season.
Something similar happened just a week ago at the Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán, when Sevilla ended with nine players after two expulsions. Both cards were shown for actions that were reviewed by the VAR and indeed deserved the red.
However, what many point out is that this type of refereeing decision wasn't made with the same forcefulness in previous rounds. Once again, the feeling is reignited that the VAR criteria are applied more rigorously when there's nothing at stake.
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