Real Madrid debuted with a victory in LaLiga EA Sports 25/26 against Osasuna (1-0), in a match dominated by the 'merengue' team, but defined by a very dubious penalty scored by Kylian Mbappé a few minutes after the start of the second half. In the end, controversies were the protagonists, as almost always, at the Santiago Bernabéu.
In the 90+4 minute, the referee Adrián Cordero Vega showed Abel Bretones a straight red card for a tackle on Gonzalo García, with the Navarrese player receiving a two-match ban for the expulsion.
VAR could not reverse the red card to Bretones, due to lack of cameras?
After the end of the match, the main referee of the match wrote in the referee's report that there was "excessive use of force" by the '23' of Osasuna in the dispute of the ball. The team from Pamplona appealed to the Technical Committee of Referees (CTA) without success, as the body did not consider the evidence provided sufficient to withdraw or reduce the suspension.
The images promoted as evidence by Osasuna were taken by the cameras of the Santiago Bernabéu. These are deficient, with a lack of sharpness, so the action is not easily reviewable by the Competition Committee, who require the contribution of evidence that allows demonstrating the alleged fact unequivocally, beyond reasonable doubt.
However, various images shared by users on social networks show that Bretones' contact on Gonzalo was without malicious intent, while both players were in dispute of the ball. A yellow card would have been enough to sanction the foul, cutting off a possible counterattack from Madrid.
Barça was already affected by the mess with the VAR cameras at the Bernabéu
This case is very similar to what happened in the second Clásico of LaLiga 23/24, where FC Barcelona fell against Real Madrid (3-2) in a match that practically decided the championship in favor of the whites.
During the first half of the match, a goal was not awarded to Lamine Yamal, as there were serious doubts about whether the ball had fully crossed the line and the images from the Bernabéu cameras were deficient to review the action in detail, adding that the location of the cameras did not offer the correct angle.
According to 'RAC1', for that match there were 36 cameras enabled on the field. However, the overhead shot on the goal line only offered the perspective from the right corner of the south end goal. Therefore, the shot was facing Lunin and did not clarify whether the ball had fully entered the goal.
Thus, although there were captures from the stands of the Bernabéu by fans that showed the ball crossing the goal line, the goal was not added to the scoreboard. That would have been Lamine's first official goal in Clásicos.
Will there be a solution to the mess with the Bernabéu cameras in League matches?
The truth is that the team from the capital of Spain has enough resources to prevent these problems that fuel the arbitration controversies in each League match.
The club has spent more than 1.3 billion on the remodeling of its stadium in the last five years, but it is still not able to guarantee an ideal deployment of cameras to offer repetitions in the appropriate angles for each area of the field.
When in doubt, as almost always, the final decision will favor the interests of the 'Casa Blanca'. Meanwhile, LaLiga turns a blind eye to this type of situation that clearly adulterates the competition.