Madrid prevaricate to cover for their downfall in LaLiga
We all knew this could happen. A controversial call in favour of Barcelona and against Real Madrid in ‘El Clásico’ would immediately invoke the name of José María Enríquez Negreira and blow out of proportion.
It happened. In fact, it’s happening as I’m writing this piece. Marco Asensio’s disallowed goal for being in an offside position has heated up the debate in Spain, or should I say, in Madrid.
Most journalists and many Madrid fans have bought into Carlo Ancelotti’s discourse that the offside was dubious and too close to call. In fact, they’ve been echoing his words and questioning the VAR’s role and integrity. Naturally this has led to Negreira’s name being mentioned here and there, as if he were still vice president of the Spanish refereeing committee. They seem to forget that the last payment dates back to 2018 and that there’s an ongoing investigation to clarify and explain what really happened.
But never mind Negreira, because criticism towards the VAR’s decision would still be a reality even if he weren’t in the picture. It doesn’t matter that it was actually offside, because from a Madrid perspective it wasn’t clear and the lines are a joke. A journalist even had the guts to say that it’s no coincidence the lines were drawn using blue and red.
But there’s more, because they then argued that the refs had used the wrong frame to analyse the offside. They insisted Dani Carvajal still hadn’t impacted the ball and that in the following frame where he does touch the ball, Asensio is no longer in an offside position.
The thing is they based this theory on the naked eye, without actually drawing any lines to prove this point. They were right to spot that a better frame could’ve been used, but that’s about it. Thankfully, ‘Archivo VAR’ in collaboration with Nacho Tellado, who is an architect known for drawing accurate offside lines, proved them wrong: it was still offside.
Most of these opinions are also being expressed on Real Madrid TV, the club’s official channel. They’re using expressions such as “modus operandi” or saying “these are my lines, if you don’t like them, I’ve got other ones” to attack the refs and the VAR, insinuating they are purposefully acting against ‘los blancos’. Diario AS reported that within the club there’s a common belief that they are at a disadvantage: “there are different (refereeing) standards when it comes to Real Madrid compared to other teams”.
Marca’s front page for the 21st March reflects this idea that Real Madrid are fed up of how they're being treated by the refs under the headline: “Madrid explodes".
Aren't they taking this a bit too far? I think we can all agree on the fact that there’s a lot of room for improvement when it comes to VAR, but instead of finding solutions and admitting their defeat, Real Madrid are just fishing for excuses to what’s been a very poor season in LaLiga.