Real Madrid coach slams VAR for robbery in match against Girona

Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti rarely speaks up against match officials, but following Sunday afternoon's 1-1 draw against Girona at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, he could not help but slam the controversial decisions which robbed his team of two points.

The match started out slow for Los Blancos, but the hosts eventually took the lead in the 70th minute after Fede Valverde forced his way into a position where he was able to feed Vinicius Junior for a tap into the back of the net.

However, just ten minutes later, Cristhian Stuani converted a late penalty which was awarded to the visitors off an alleged handball by Marco Asensio. The VAR review video clearly showed the ball hitting Asensio's chest first, but the referee pointed to the spot anyway, giving Girona the chance to equalise.

"The first situation is clear. It's not a penalty because it hits him on the chest. He didn't touch the ball with his hand, they made it up," said Ancelotti after the match.

A fired up Real Madrid squad dominated the attack in the closing minutes, with Rodrygo Goes finding the back of the net for what he though was the winner. However, the goal was disallowed after the referee decided that the Brazilian had kicked the ball out of Girona goalkeeper Paulo Gazzaniga's hand. This was less clear, as Gazzaninga had in fact held the ball down to the ground, but he lifted his hand momentarily to roll it closer. Rodrygo appears to have kicked the ball in at the moment when he lifted his hand off the ball for a split second as seen in the photo below:

"The second situation is different, it can be given. What surprises me is that it came at an important moment in the match, it was on track, but it cost us a lot. After this situation, we have two fewer points in the table," added the Italian manager.

Ancelotti went on to say that the VAR calls damaged the match, even though he admitted that the Real Madrid squad is not playing at the highest level at the moment. "We are playing a lot of matches and we are feeling the fatigue. We have the chance on Wednesday [against Celtic] to seal top [spot in the Champions League group] and the objective is to be leaders at the break. At the moment we have everything in our hands," he said, as quoted by Marca.

Real Madrid now hold a slim 1-point advantage over Barcelona at the top of the La Liga table, and have already qualified into the knockout stage of the UEFA Champions League.