Beaten by Real Madrid in the first Clasico of the season (1-3), FC Barcelona is tenth in La Liga. After the defeat of his own, however, Ronald Koeman was keen to go back on refereeing and the use of the VAR, at two speeds according to him.
Winner of Ferencvaros (5-1) on Tuesday night as part of the first day of the Champions League group stage, FC Barcelona had given themselves some air. Because in La Liga, the Catalan club remained on a defeat against Getafe (0-1) and a draw against Sevilla FC (1-1). As a result, the Blaugranas were not really allowed to make mistakes this Saturday in the Clasico against Real Madrid. Unfortunately, Lionel Messi and his team fell at the Camp Nou, on the score of 3-1
A match marked by this penalty awarded to Sergio Ramos – then converted for the goal of 2-1 – for a jersey draw of the Frenchman Clément Lenglet. And Ronald Koeman doesn’t digest that decision at all. “I want to know your opinion. We don’t agree, there is no penalty for me. I hope that one day they will be able to explain to me the issue of VAR in Spain. We have been playing for five days now and only the VAR has been against Barca. The VAR can be very good, but not for all teams,” the Dutch coach told reporters.
“For me, once again, there is no penalty”
Pressed on this clash in the surface between the Frenchman and the Spaniard, the former coach of the Netherlands continued his momentum: “I didn’t talk to Lenglet but I saw the scene. There’s Ramos’s foul on Lenglet. Then Lenght catches Ramos, but not to push him back. In any case, he had to throw himself forward, not backward. For me, once again, there is no penalty.”
Ronald Koeman then ended his speech by talking about his players’ game. But for him, the referee’s decision changed everything. “We had a good game, we created opportunities, but the decision of the penalty has a direct influence. I’m not worried or scared despite these last two defeats (in La Liga), we have to keep working like that, I have no doubt about the quality of the players,” concluded the 57-year-old coach. A backlash is expected against Juventus next week.