Athletic Club secured their first win at San Mames in nine years over Real Madrid in ‘the old Clasico’ on Wednesday night, in no small part helped by a penalty that was missed by Kylian Mbappe. That came from goalkeeper Julen Agirrezabala cleaning out Antonio Rudiger, but Los Blancos very nearly had another with the game finely poised at 0-0.
After Rodrygo Goes went down in the box under an Andoni Gorosabel challenge, referee Jose Maria Sanchez Martinez waved play on. However he was called across to look at the incident and VAR assistant Jorge Figueroa Vazquez played the video back to Sanchez Martinez, saying ‘he never touches the ball’. After watching it several times, Sanchez Martinez decides not to award the penalty.
It doesn’t take much for fans to be irritated by referees, but the VAR performance in Athletic Club’s win over #RealMadrid has come in for criticism.
The video assistant tells the referee that Gorosabel ‘never touches the ball’ – no penalty was given.pic.twitter.com/Q2OENIz7I6
— Football España (@footballespana_) December 5, 2024
Impressively, the incident has caused fury from all sides. Real Madrid TV foamed at the idea that Los Blancos had not been given a penalty, despite Sanchez Martinez being asked to look at the incident. Meanwhile fans of Athletic and otherwise watched mystified, as Figueroa Vazquez says Gorosabel does not touch the ball. The Athletic right-back clearly gets his foot to the ball before Rodrygo, whatever the decision is beyond that, and it even changes direction as a result of the touch.
