Barcelona-Girona thriller may distort La Liga after all – but blame VAR, not Miami

More VAR controversy. On Saturday, Real Madrid had sealed a hard-fought 1-0 win at home to Espanyol on Saturday after the video assistant referee rightly confirmed that Marco Asensio was onside before scoring at the Santiago Bernabeu.

But Barcelona were less fortunate on Sunday.

The champions were a goal up through Lionel Messi and apparently cruising in a Catalan derby at home to Girona, but everything changed for the Liga leaders when centre-back Clement Lenglet was sent off 10 minutes before half-time.

Barcelona’s players were furious and the fans did not even know what had happened. Replays showed there was contact from the Frenchman’s elbow in the face of Girona midfielder Pere Pons. VAR was consulted and the defender, a summer signing from Sevilla, was sent off.

The decision unsettled the crowd at Camp Nou and also their team. Valverde opted against making an immediate change and prior to the interval, Cristhian Stuani got between Gerard Pique and Sergio Busquets in the area to fire a low shot past Marc-Andre ter Stegen.

There were huge jeers for the officials at half-time as the two teams went off on level terms. No doubt that the red card had changed the game, although Barca had struggled to find their rhythm too with Arthur and Arturo Vidal both in the starting line-up.

Stuani scored again in the second half, blasting home a drive from the edge of the box after Portu’s shot had been saved, the midfielder also brought down by Pique before picking himself up again. Had it not been a goal, it may have been a penalty. Either way, Barca were behind.

Staring at a possible first home defeat under Valverde and with the supporters still angry at the decision to send off Lenglet, Barca set about fighting their way back into the game and as in San Sebastian last weekend, again there was improvement when Philippe Coutinho came on.

Messi came close as Girona gave away a series of free-kicks around their box, but it was Pique who headed home the equaliser. The defender followed up with his trademark 2/2 hand gesture – in reference to the birth date of both he and partner Shakira, February 2nd – and it was even more apt because his goal had made it 2-2.

Coutinho threatened to level with a fierce effort in the closing stages, but Barca were left frustrated in a physical battle as Girona played on the edge and got away with some cynical fouls. Just before the end, there was one on Busquets right on the edge of the box which left players and fans indignant. Why did VAR not act there?

All the talk before the match was about the proposed match between these two teams in Miami in January, which has caused a huge conflict between Liga president Javier Tebas and Spanish Football Federation chief Luis Rubiales.

In the meantime, others including Real Madrid president Florentino Perez have said that taking a game away from Spain distorts the competition. However, it was the application of VAR that altered things on Sunday because in slow motion, everything is different. And in one replay, Lenglet’s elbow looks like a foul worthy of a dismissal. In such freeze-frames, however, all context is lost and, as at the World Cup in Russia, human error is still the problem.

Until it is perfected, controversy will remain with VAR and Barcelona will feel they were the victims in this case, because they likely would have won with 11 men on the pitch. Instead, the draw means Barca and Madrid are level at the top of the table.

The Miami match may not even go ahead this season, but until it is applied properly with context and common sense, VAR could yet distort La Liga this season. Certainly it changed the course of Sunday’s game at Camp Nou.