Scandal Sparks Outrage in Barcelona's Draw

Barcelona ended 1-1 against Rayo Vallecano in the third round of La Liga, yet the spotlight was on a VAR mishap that caused a disputed penalty awarded for Lamine Yamal's goal.

The match at Estadio de Vallecas started tensely as Barcelona struggled against Rayo Vallecano's aggressive style. In the 40th minute, Lamine Yamal broke into the box and fell after a challenge from Pep Chavarria. Referee Mateo Busquets Ferrer immediately awarded a penalty to Barca, while VAR was unable to intervene due to a technical failure disrupting the connection with the Las Rozas center.

This decision triggered intense protests. Goalkeeper Augusto Batalla and substitute Oscar Trejo received yellow cards for dissent, and the Vallecas crowd jeered loudly. Nevertheless, Yamal calmly converted the penalty, scoring the opener and becoming the youngest player this century to score from the spot in La Liga.

After the match, the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) issued a statement confirming the technical issue and admitting they could not determine the cause. Spanish media also sharply criticized the incident, with AS stating "the new season has started but La Liga has already seen too many scandals," while MARCA declared the VAR screen at Vallecas was completely broken.

Rayo Vallecano expressed clear frustration. Coach Inigo Perez said: "What bothers me is that players couldn’t play five minutes without VAR, which had a huge impact. They apologized and we forgave, but it's hard to accept."

Meanwhile, midfielder Isi Palazon was even more outspoken:

"The penalty was invalid, the referee admitted his mistake to us

Referees are human and can err, but it’s strange that these errors always go against the same team (Barcelona).

In the end, mistakes always go against us. I recall last season’s return match when they (Barca) also benefited from a wrong decision awarding them a penalty."

This anger fueled Rayo’s motivation. In the second half, they played with more enthusiasm and were rewarded in the 67th minute when Fran Perez capitalized on a chaotic corner kick to score a volley equalizer. Rayo even had two more goals disallowed for offside.

Despite having many stars, Barcelona relied heavily on goalkeeper Joan Garcia, who made at least five spectacular saves. Without him, the Catalan team might have left Vallecas defeated.

The draw leaves Barcelona with only 7 points after 3 rounds, dropping them to 4th place behind Real Madrid and Athletic Bilbao, who have won all their first three matches. More importantly, the VAR incident at Vallecas reignited criticism of La Liga’s refereeing quality and video assistance system, which was expected to reduce disputes but instead caused one of the most infuriating controversies early in the season.

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Yamal admits the disappointing truth after Barca’s draw Lamine Yamal scored from the penalty spot to give Barcelona the lead, but the Catalan side was held to a 1-1 draw by Rayo Vallecano, with the young talent admitting he hasn’t yet reached his best form. See more