‘Thank goodness’… Released VAR audio sparks controversy as Barcelona beat Real Madrid | OneFootball

The hits just keep on coming for FC Barcelona as they continue to deal with new headaches. For the Catalan giants, this recent El Clásico fixture was their way of bouncing back following the loss to Inter Milan. Fortunately, Hansi Flick’s Barcelona continued their streak of domination against Real Madrid.

With a 4-3 victory at the Montjuic Stadium, the Catalan giants once again prevailed over Carlo Ancelotti’s Real Madrid. For La Blaugrana, this was a game that they needed to win for both their own self-motivation as well as it being a massive step towards winning La Liga.

Moreover, the way in which they won this game perfectly encompasses why this Barça team is special. Initially going 2-0 down early on during the game, the Catalan side fought back valiantly and came back into the game to win it 4-3 by the final whistle.

The score could have even been 5-3 by the end had Fermin Lopez’s sublime goal been counted. Unfortunately, it was ruled out due to a handball decision that was caused by a Real Madrid player rather than Lopez’s own intentions. Normally, a decision like that would not cause controversy as long as the referee had been consistent in the game.

Unfortunately for the match official, that was not the case at all. He previously decided not to give a penalty in favor of Barcelona after Aurelien Tchouameni used his arm to stop a direct shot at goal from Ferran Torres. Despite being called to the monitor as well, referee Alejandro Hernandez still let Real Madrid get away with it.

Controversy from the VAR room

Now, however, things have taken an extremely dire turn following recent developments. As stated by Toni Juanmarti, following the release of the official VAR audio from the game, someone in the VAR booth stated the following words when looking for a reason to chalk off Lopez’s goal for Barcelona:

“Thank goodness.”

These officials are expected to be neutrals, and no sense of bias or prejudice should be there when making decisions. With this evidence, however, it is clear to see that there is something clearly wrong with the people being tasked with officiating such a game.

Fermin Lopez saw his goal be ruled out for handball. (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)

Other questionable decisions against Barcelona

Throughout the game, there were incidents where Barcelona were unjustifiably punished or undeniably robbed of better opportunities by the match officials. From Kylian Mbappe’s potential offside to Tchouameni not being sent off for a last-ditch foul, there were examples of questionable decisions throughout the game.

While other potential penalty decisions were shrugged off prematurely as well, the handball incident with Tchouameni truly sticks out. Moreover, that moment existing in itself is a direct counter-argument to Lopez’s goal being ruled out due to an unintentional handball.

As per Toni Juanmarti, the audio is clearly audible, and it definitely needs to be paid attention to. Moreover, he claims that Barcelona should demand an official explanation and dig deeper into this incident, as it is something truly controversial and could potentially unveil an even bigger scandal.

While Real Madrid TV continues to target referees ahead of big games such as this, Barça are often put in a position where they must deal with the consequences.

Such abhorrent and unethical actions have no place in football, and this is an incident that Barcelona should not be glossing over. Unfortunately, this is not the first time this season that some decisions from the VAR room have sparked controversy or created confusion.