Real Madrid were soundly beaten by Barcelona on Sunday, although they did feel aggrieve at not having the chance to get back into the game at the Spotify Camp Nou.
Barcelona won 2-0 thanks to goals from Marcus Rashford and Ferran Torres, but late in the second half, Real Madrid were left disappointed at not being awarded a penalty following a clash between Jude Bellingham and Eric Garcia.
Replays showed that Bellingham was caught by a flailing elbow from Eric inside the area, which left him bloodied. On-field referee Alejandro Hernandez Hernandez missed the incident, but VAR decided against getting involved, with the decision being that no foul had been committed by the Barcelona defender.
Real Madrid head coach Alvaro Arbeloa noted the incident during his pre-match press conference, although he refused to be drawn too much on the matter. That was not the case for Real Madrid TV, as they went to town on the decision not to penalise Eric for the incident with Bellingham, as per MD.
“One more of the Negreira League, one more demonstration that in La Liga there is no equal refereeing criteria. Real Madrid is always harmed by the VAR referees.”
Did Real Madrid have a case?
It was definitely clumsy from Eric, although it did appear to be unintentional. Nevertheless, Barcelona supporters would have held their breath when replays were shown, although the decision did end up falling their way.
Little blame can befall Hernandez Hernandez on this matter, given that he would not have been able to see the contact between Eric and Bellingham, but the fact that no penalty was given on-field meant it was always going to be difficult for it to be overturned, as it did not appear to be a clear and obvious error, although it won’t stop the ill-feeling from Real Madrid.
