The Camp Nou press room continued to stage the classic between Barcelona and Real Madrid that had been played minutes before on the grass. A Ancelotti face-faced answered the journalists’ questions with a more serious face than usual while Xavi reflected satisfaction and contained the euphoria that surrounded him.
Ancelotti “doubts” of the VAR
And before the microphones and cameras the news broke once more. When the Italian was asked why he had lost Real Madrid to win, Carletto warned the following: “We played a good game, we deserved to win, it was won. Then there is the question of this goal that has been cancelled. We tried everything at the end, we lost a bit of balance and they scored. The game was very good, we leave with the confidence that we can finish the season well”.
Questioned about that doubt he was talking about, the Madrid coach extended his response: “Do you think it was offside? Yes Yes… you have to accept it. But I remain in doubt. Sure there is nothing. We have the right to have that doubt.” A doubt that the coach sowed and supported by the rest of the expedition. The whites did not like to fall like this, with a goal already celebrated, that of Asensio, which was annulled three minutes later, after seeing how the VAR drew some lines that do not have much credibility in general among footballers, whatever team they are. “We will have to believe it,” Courtois admitted resignedly.
Xavi, “of fireworks”
Minutes later it was Xavi who sat down in front of the press and upon being informed of the doubts that the Real Madrid coach had slipped, he stated in surprise: “These statements by Ancelotti surprise me, because VAR is something scientific.. There is no debate there. Either it is or it isn’t. It’s offside. If today there is talk of VAR, it is already fireworks ”.
A Catalan journalist invited him to do another reading, noting that in Bilbao Barcelona won with two key VAR decisions, a confirmed goal for Raphinha and a disallowed goal for Williams. And against Real Madrid, history repeated itself with the disallowed goal for Asensio. The reading that he did invited us to think about the systematic damage to Barça before the appearance of video arbitration. Dangerous interpretation that Xavi skilfully dodged: “Without VAR it is much more difficult to decide and with VAR football is fairer, it is impeccable. Another thing is a play to interpret as some hands or an entry. But an offside is or it is not offside.
League tied without VAR
The objective and quantifiable reality is that at this point in the season, Barcelona has twelve points ahead of Real Madrid, 68 for the blaugrana and 56 for the whites. And if the use of VAR in football had not been implemented, both would be tied. A fact that offers two readings and opens a debate.
For the Catalans, this shows that when football is objectified through the use of technology, Barça is at the top on its own merits. From the white trench, and even more so after knowing the scandal of the payment of the culé club to Enríquez Negreirait is suspicious that the VAR has been a necessary accomplice in these decisions that have opened a gap between the two heavyweights of Spanish football. Too much of a coincidence, especially if you look at the words that Negreira addressed to Barça in 2020 in his latest proposal to resume the relationship: “I can help you with the VAR”.
Football, the one we have to experience this season, is an exercise in faith and today Real Madrid has more suspicions than other things. Ancelotti doubts the VAR and it seems even natural with all the confusion that there is. Barça clings to video arbitration to justify some decisions that Xavi describes as “impeccable”. The only thing that seems clear is that the League has been almost doomed. The VAR debate has many more games left to resolve.
