Never in the 53 years of life of the Montilivi stadium had the snide chant from the stands been heard, so recurrent in cases of theft and teasing in the field of Spanish football: “This way, this way, this is how Madrid wins.” It happened at the end of Girona-Real Sociedad (0-0) on Saturday. The curious thing is that the rival that visited the rojiblanco stadium was not the Madrid team, but Real Sociedad, directly favored by another controversial VAR intervention. Although, indirectly, the biggest beneficiary of the damage to Girona was Real Madrid, which maintained (and could extend) the lead in the League with Girona's draw, and will not have Yangel Herrera and Blind in front of them at the Bernabéu on Saturday. , due to an accumulation of warnings, nor to coach Míchel Sánchez, who was sent off with a direct red card.
The injury for Girona occurred in the 24th minute. After a play by Savinho, Yangel Herrera finished off with a spectacular header to make it 1-0. However, Gil Manzano did not validate it when he was warned by the VAR (with Del Cerro Grande in charge) that there was a previous offside... that happened more than half a minute earlier.
Montilivi threw his hands on his head, in disbelief with the referee's decision. Míchel Sánchez didn't understand anything. “Everyone saw the goal. It's almost 40 seconds after [the offside], three plays with a change of possession. It doesn't make much sense. If you start rewinding the game, many actions can be sanctioned and are not sanctioned. Surely there are many situations like this. I think it's clear: it's a VAR error," lamented the Madrid coach, who ended up being sent off for protesting (m. 88), and will not be able to sit on the Bernabeu bench; another of the grievances attributable to Gil Manzano.
And Girona considers itself greatly harmed by the Extremaduran referee for declaring two yellow cards, to Yangel Herrera and Blind, and the expulsion of the coach; so the three will not be able to be on Saturday against Real Madrid in the match that could decide the fight for the League.
Míchel saw a direct red card in the 88th minute for “leaving the technical area repeatedly protesting and with ostensible gestures” a decision by the referee – according to the minutes. The coach was stupefied: "He sent me off for saying 'It's the law of the advantage, there's no foul', I haven't disrespected anyone, I've just raised my arms," explained the coach, who was expecting "the yellow card, not the Red".
In the case of Yangel Herrera, the Venezuelan saw yellow for “recklessly knocking down an opponent in the dispute for the ball,” while Daley Blind was cautioned in the 99th minute, “the match already over,” according to the referee report. , “for repeatedly making technical observations” to Gil Manzano. Nothing could be further from the truth: the Dutch defender addressed the Extremaduran referee in English asking him “why only two minutes [of added time]?”, as Míchel discovered.
“I think it is also excessive. Daley is not a player who has made ugly gestures to the referee, or to an opponent, or to anyone. He was one of those warned, like Yangel.” He will not be able to count on them in Madrid. “But we will compete the same,” Míchel promises.
