Sevilla sporting director rails against VAR following Real Madrid match

VAR disallowed a Luuk de Jong goal in the first-half of the Real Madrid versus Sevilla match.

Monchi, Sevilla’s director of football, was left fuming following his team’s loss against Real Madrid against Santiago Bernabeu.

Much like it has been in the English Premier League, VAR was the subject of his ire. It disallowed a header by Luuk de Jong after it was deemed that a foul on Real Madrid defender Eder Militao had been committed.

Had the goal stood, it would have put Sevilla up top early in a game where they looked the better side. It was chalked off and Real Madrid went on to win the game.

According to beIN Sports, Monchi said,

"“Everyone saw the action. There’s no footballing, technical or tactical analysis after such a clear incident that defines the game. There’s nothing more to analyze about it. It’s absurd. If they had ruled out the second goal, I would have come down to the pitch and taken the team off.”"

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He went on to say that Sevilla leave satisfied with the game despite the result because they played well. But he did not hide his disgust with the VAR ruling.

Sevilla manager Julen Lopetegui was also asked about the VAR decision. While he was not as animated as Monchi, he too did not understand why the goal was disallowed.

Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane was also asked about the decision and of Monchi’s comments.

According to Marca, Zidane said,

"“For me, there’s a block, it’s a foul and it’s normal. You can’t complain. I don’t think the referee was so decisive [in the result]. He did what he had to do.”"

He brought up the supposed handball on Munir in Sevilla’s equalizing goal and said that it should have been disallowed because of that. The same goal that Monchi said he would have taken the team off had it been called off.

He also said that he believed Monchi’s comments were a bit over the top but he is not going to stop someone from speaking their mind.

A manager is never going to complain about a call that goes in their favor. Zidane wasn’t going to come out and say that the goal should have stood. It’s why he brought up the Sevilla goal that he felt should have been disallowed.

Calls like these are going to be magnified when it involves Real Madrid. It comes with the territory of them being one of the biggest teams in the world.

VAR has been the source of headaches across Europe’s top leagues. Until recently, much of the complaints had come from the way it’s been used in England. Now we’ve had more complaints coming from Spain. Take Barcelona complaining about the lack of VAR use in their draw a while back against Real Sociedad.

VAR was brought in to get calls right and help out the referee. Instead, it’s resulted in headaches and rants from those who feel they’ve been wronged. It’s a pattern that is unlikely to stop anytime soon.