"An extremely serious matter"! Fury erupts in Sevilla against Real Madrid: VAR accused of covering up for Guler
Did the referee favour Real Madrid against Sevilla?
Real Madrid were supposed to stroll to victory. Instead, their meeting with Sevilla descended into a refereeing storm, after a suspicious incident involving Turkey's Arda Guler lit the fuse among Andalusian fans and sent the Spanish media after the officials and the video technology.
Madrid did the job on Sunday evening, beating their guests 4-1 and keeping their place alongside Barcelona at the top of the table. The result was not the only talking point. One moment in the 22nd minute changed everything.
Off the ball, Guler caught Sevilla's Peque with his elbow, a challenge that looked to everyone like a straight red. Referee Mateo Busquets Ferrer reached for yellow instead. The irony cut deep: the player who escaped a dismissal opened the scoring eight minutes later, turning himself from near-villain into match-winner.
Fury swept through the Sevilla camp, and Cadena SER journalist Miguel Angel Chazarri gave it a voice on "Carrusel Deportivo".
Chazarri said in an angry tone: "I was expecting the referee's performance, it did not surprise me at all, because Real Madrid constantly apply pressure and harassment. When Real Madrid unleash their pressure, it becomes difficult for any referee to keep his composure. I am not asking anyone to be a hero, but they are supposed to be good professionals, and I understand that a referee under this kind of pressure may not make the right decisions."
He added, criticising what he described as "comfortable refereeing": "I think they did the comfortable refereeing, the refereeing the night demanded, and certainly the refereeing that best suits their careers. Because this match will be forgotten very soon, and tomorrow the story will be over."
His real suspicion lay elsewhere. Not with the man on the pitch, but with what went on inside the VAR room.
He asked disapprovingly: "What astonished me is the hiding of the images, this television manipulation. I really do not know where it came from or why it happened. This is scandalous and unprecedented. Even though the stadium is surrounded by cameras that allow it to pinpoint almost any area within it, it seems the video room could not find any clear footage to justify sending off the Real Madrid player!"
The veteran journalist continued his attack, saying: "What happened today is extremely serious. Sevilla have seen a few things at the Bernabeu. Once, Modric pushed James and a penalty was deserved, that was appalling, but what happened today surpasses all of that."
He added: "After the match, we did not have an image of what clearly appears to be an assault. We do not know where the elbow blow landed, whether on the neck, the face, the mouth or the chest, but it is clear that Guler used his elbow and the match carried on as if nothing had happened. The level of anger among Sevilla's fans right now has gone beyond all limits."
One man did earn Chazarri's praise: Sevilla coach Luis Garcia Plaza. He called the post-match press conference "excellent and outstanding", with Garcia Plaza laying everything out clearly and accepting that Madrid deserved the win, while insisting his side's chances of taking something from the night would have doubled against ten men.
All of this lands after weeks of Real Madrid complaints about officiating, most loudly following the Atletico Madrid derby, when the club launched a sustained pressure campaign. Observers reckon it has left referees walking a tightrope every time they take charge of a Madrid match.
