Real Madrid vs Sevilla ends in VAR controversy

Real Madrid CF will be sorely disappointed to miss out on the chance to claim the top spot in the La Liga Santander table on Sunday night. The defending champions only managed to come from behind to force a 2-2 draw against Sevilla on a night when the VAR made a couple of controversial decisions.

Real Madrid welcomed fourth-placed Sevilla to the Estadio Alfredo Di Stefano with high hopes of taking the lead following the draw between Atletico Madrid and FC Barcelona on Saturday. However, it is just back to status quo as all top four teams only managed to come away with a point after the weekend.

Referee Juan Martinez Munuera was faced with a number of tough decisions alongside his VAR team on Sunday. Early in the match, Karim Benzema gave Real Madrid the lead, only to have it disallowed after Alvaro Odriozola was deemed offside.

The first replay did not appear to show the Real player offside but a subsequent graphic showed Odriozola's foot just going past the last defender as he received the ball to set-up Benzema's goal.

The disallowed goal denied Real Madrid the lead and the momentum. Sevilla made it worse for the hosts as they took the lead in the 22nd minute thanks to a brilliant strike from close range by Fernando Reges.

Marco Asensio scored the equaliser for Real Madrid in the 67th minute before the second VAR involvement came. A Real Madrid counter attack saw Karim Benzema being taken down by Sevilla keeper Bono inside the box. However, it wasn't Benzema who earned a penalty. Instead, the VAR tracked back to moments before the Frenchman's breakaway run, when the ball hit Eder Militao's arm at the other end of the pitch during Sevilla's set piece.

In the end, it was the handball that got the penalty which Ivan Rakitic quickly converted to double the lead. Real Madrid was able to salvage a point thanks to a late equaliser by Toni Kroos that got deflected off the foot of Eden Hazard late into stoppage time.

It was a tense evening for both sides with the title at stake. It was a massive blow for Zidane, but Julen Lopetegui would have also been disappointed not to seal the victory against the club that unceremoniously dumped him after just five months back in 2018.

As it stands, Atletico Madrid still leads with Real Madrid and Barcelona sitting level just two points behind.