Real Madrid once again could not break down Real Betis on Sunday night, but they were frustrated by a VAR decision that ruled out Karim Benzema’s free-kick. According to Diario AS, that is representative of a trend in La Liga.
The Madrid daily say that Los Blancos have lost out on four points due to VAR decisions, the most of any side in La Liga. Meanwhile Rayo Vallecano (-3), Celta Vigo (-2), Valencia (-2) and Getafe (-2) have been hurt the most by VAR decisions.
The most benefitted side are Real Betis (+4), while Barcelona (+2), Athletic Club (+2), Elche (+2) and Real Valladolid (+2) have all been helped by the VAR decisions.
They go on to point out that if those decisions had not been taken into account, then the gap between Barcelona and Real Madrid would only be three points. Los Blancos have seen VAR intervene on 18 times, 8 times in their favour, 10 times against them. Meanwhile VAR has intervened just thrice against Barcelona, like Cadiz and Girona.
What the article does not mention is the key factor in all of this, which is whether the decisions were correct or not. It makes little difference how many times VAR intervened or not, provided the right decisions were taken. That will be a matter of debate, but while the article is perhaps intended to question the use of VAR in the context of the recent Caso Negreira revelations, it could also be used as an argument to say that the system is having a positive impact on ensuring these teams get their dues.
