Peruvian midfielder Renato Tapia apologizes to referee Hernández Hernández during the match against Sevilla in Balaídos.Salvador Sas (EFE)
A storm of indignation shook the VAR this Saturday in Balaídos in the match between Celta and Sevilla and caused it to collapse. Where the bad weather did not arrive, came the anger of the Vigo team, which has so far accumulated various complaints in the league about refereeing decisions on and off the field. The situation got so bad that a club delegation traveled to Madrid less than two weeks ago to hold a meeting with Luis Medina Cantalejo, the head of the refereeing team. But a few hours after that game, a crucial goal in Girona was incomprehensibly disallowed. Then the VAR did not appear to warn the referee that he had made a blatant error in a collision between Gazzaniga and Dotor. “On evenings like these we can only say: This competition deserves much better,” the club then stated on its social networks, with the Celtic coat of arms on a blackened mourning sign.
This Saturday, the Vigo Stadium and its surroundings were filled with banners with messages about the situation. And in the 96th minute, with the score tied at 1-1, Murphy shot through Balaídos’ front door with his relentless attack. The referee, the experienced Hernández Hernández, declared a seemingly obvious penalty by Jesús Navas against the light blue striker Douvikas. But from the video arbitration room they called a chapter, the lawsuit was arbitrated again and plunged into the limbo of controversy. Immediately three whistles sounded; and curtain.
The next act opened immediately. Captain Iago Aspas, who had been substituted, signaled the team to leave the field and, in the middle of a stalemate, the monitor on which Hernández Hernández was watching the replay for minutes landed on the ground after Aspas shook it. Now he is threatened with a sanction for violating sporting regulations. “With everything they owe us, we should almost be in the Champions League,” the Celta captain decided as soon as he had a microphone in front of him. But his team is still in the relegation zone. “In twelve days they have damaged us in seven days,” laments the Celta emblem, before adding: “They call the VAR to see the intensity of a grab that is decided again when it has already been whistled. “
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It happened that Navas fought a duel with Douvikas in the area. On the television images, which the referee saw live, you can see a grip on the Celta striker’s arm and hand. There are even doubts whether Navas’ foot blocks the Greek attacker, who makes a slight gesture with his other arm as he falls. “Everyone who has played football interprets it as a penalty,” said coach Rafa Benítez, who on his return to Spanish football experienced a situation he had never experienced before, largely due to the repetition of disasters. “You see it’s one thing after another. I want someone to explain it to me.”
In this merry-go-round of nonsense, two surnames have been heard in Vigo in recent days. Prieto Iglesias is a referee with an unusual story: he was twice relegated from first to second place due to his poor performances and twice he was promoted. In 2020 he left the top category to referee in silver until May 2022 and immediately switched back to VAR. Last summer he celebrated his third promotion to the top category, now under the command of the Monitors. He was the protagonist in two of Celta’s most regretted grievances so far this season, against Mallorca and especially against Las Palmas. “It’s a surprise that he’s back with the VAR,” Benítez said this Friday, a day before he stumbled again on the same stone. In advance, the coach wanted to dampen the bagpipes when he learned that Pietro Iglesias would be in the VOR room to once again referee a Celta game: “Surprise at the appointment, although the word seems most appropriate to me.” is respect . I see it as a positive because since what everyone saw was so obvious, I am convinced that they will be much more attentive so that everything goes well and there is no decision that we have to talk about later.”
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Between disbelief, bewilderment and anger, the experienced Celta coach tried to master the situation after the game. “I can’t overcome my astonishment,” he explained, looking for irony. “You still have to involve a physicist in the VAR to measure what strength is sufficient and be the one to decide.” Benítez believes that the influence of referees on the classification of a team that scores seven points eight, nine or ten more can be measured. “Penalties have to be taken from the field. “It is very difficult to explain this to the UEFA committees I go to,” he complained.
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