Arbitration analysis

The worst enemy of the referee of the classic

Hernández Hernández in this Sunday's classic.
12/05/2025
2 min

BarcelonaThe spectacular Liga derby was full of controversial plays that influenced, and in what way, the result of the match. VAR, led by Valencian Martínez Munuera, emerged as Alejandro Hernández Hernández's worst enemy. Szymon Marciniak in Milan managed to protect the spectacle by applying strict disciplinary criteria. However, the avalanche of controversy discredited his performance. The ball was in an offside position, but the refereeing team interpreted Cubarsí's rejection as intentional and, therefore, validated the action. Minutes later, Madrid scored the 0-2. It should have been detected from the VAR room. VARman He also failed to see Frenkie de Jong's handball at the start of the Barça attack that ended in a 2-2 draw. Once again, the Canary Islander lacked the help of his teammate to disallow the goal.

In the 36th minute, the most critical decision occurred: Ferran Torres was sliding down the left side of the attack and, just as he was about to enter the area, Tchouaméni brought him to the ground. Hernández decided to book him, considering that he was somewhat slanted and still far from Courtois' goal, but there were also reasons to assess the action as an obvious goalscoring opportunity, since the Real Madrid player was the last defender and Ferran had control of the ball. The main referee chose the most conservative option, thinking that in such a high-profile match it was better to take it easy.

The first part of the second half passed without too many surprises. The international maintained his excellent judgment in signaling fouls and cards and managed the match with discretion and confidence. The calm ended when Tchouaméni intercepted a shot from Ferran with his arm. Martínez Munuera, in a terrible intervention, recommended a review on the monitor. The main referee showed his personality and, with very good judgment, upheld the decision made on the pitch because the Real Madrid player's arm was pointed towards the ground, close to his body and in a natural position.

Finally, VAR intervened again to make Fermín's 5-3. The Andalusian touched the ball with his hand at the start of the play, but it was unintentional and could not be prevented. In this case, although Fermín is the player who ultimately scores, he does not do so immediately. Furthermore, the handball must be punishable for the goal to be disallowed. As if that were not enough, in the VAR audios provided by the RFEF, one can feel a "thank goodnesswhich has sparked outrage among Barça fans.

Hernández Hernández faced a match of extremely high difficulty, but he was able to make brave and coherent decisions. Hernández Hernández put his hand on the neck.

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