How VAR has dramatically changed LaLiga standings: Real Madrid vs Barcelona

The Video Assistant Referee, aka VAR, has taken center stage in LaLiga this season, and with six rounds to go, the number of interventions is on pace to break the all-time record. Already, 162 VAR interventions have occurred this campaign – nearly one every two matches (1.96 per game) – surpassing last season’s total of 154 and inching closer to the record of 179 set in 2022–23.

The trend appears unlikely to slow down.

Historically, VAR usage spikes in the final weeks as the stakes rise and matches grow tighter. In the 31st round alone, VAR made 13 interventions, the highest single-week total of the season.

More technology, more problems?

Criticism is mounting against Spain’s Referees’ Technical Committee (CTA), particularly its president Luis Medina Cantalejo, who has long argued that VAR should intervene sparingly, especially on so-called “soft penalties.” Medina Cantalejo has repeated that “VAR should serve as a safety net for clear and obvious errors”, but grey-area decisions remain frequent.

Several factors explain this season’s surge in VAR activity. One reason, insiders admit, is that referees are missing more calls on the pitch than in previous seasons, including red-card offenses, which are the hardest to spot live.

Another major factor is the semi-automated offside technology, which detects player positions with greater precision. This has led to more offside decisions being corrected – 36 goals overturned for incorrect offside calls so far, compared to just 22 last season.

Clubs protest: Madrid and Villarreal lead the charge

Despite VAR’s heightened involvement, frustration centers on when the system doesn’t intervene. After the most recent round, Real Madrid and Villarreal voiced outrage over controversial decisions.

Madrid demanded a penalty review for a challenge on Jude Bellingham, but VAR declined to call referee Martínez Munuera to the monitor. The club’s in-house media, Real Madrid TV, accused the league of trying to “push Madrid out of LaLiga.”

“This is third-world officiating,” Madrid TV fumed, citing FIFA’s exclusion of Spanish referees from the upcoming Club World Cup as further proof of distrust. They also criticized the disallowed goal by Vinicius Jr., flagged for a marginal offside by Endrick.

At Villarreal, president Fernando Roig condemned the disallowed late goal by Eyong, ruled out for a controversial foul. Roig argued that “the VAR exists for moments like this”, insisting that both that decision and another involving Ayoze Pérez should have been reviewed. “We deserve respect,” Roig stated.

Even Celta Vigo joined the outcry, feeling aggrieved by multiple VAR calls in their loss to Barcelona, just weeks after similar frustrations in the Copa del Rey against Real Madrid.

VAR stats fuel Madrid’s claims of bias

Real Madrid’s complaints aren’t just emotional – the numbers tell a story. Barcelona has benefitted from 13 favorable VAR decisions, tied for the most in LaLiga with Athletic Bilbao, while facing only six interventions against.

By contrast, Real Madrid has endured 15 VAR calls against them, with only six going in their favor – the worst net balance in the league, matched only by Alavés. The seven-point swing this season caused by VAR decisions would leave Madrid seven points better off without it, while Barcelona would sit five points lower.

As VAR navigates a sea of controversy, the 2024–25 LaLiga season looks poised to end with record-breaking intervention numbers – but more scrutiny than ever. And whether or not the decisions are correct, well, that’s another matter...

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