The contentious penalty awarded to Real Madrid during their 2-1 victory over Barcelona in El Clásico has been clarified with the release of the VAR audio, which reveals the precise reasoning for the decision against defender Eric García.
The incident occurred in the second half following a ricochet involving García and Jude Bellingham, immediately igniting fierce protests from Barcelona players, according to reporting from Barça Universal.
The sequence saw Bellingham move the ball centrally before García slid in for a challenge. The ball subsequently struck the Barcelona defender’s hand.
Following the play, the VAR room explicitly instructed referee César Soto Grado to review the footage to assess a possible handball, telling him: “Cesar, I recommend you review this to assess a possible penalty for handball.
I’m going to show you the position of the hand, which I believe is a punishable position, and the entire action for you to assess.
We’ll switch cameras there.”After reviewing the slow-motion footage from multiple angles, the VAR team urged the on-field referee to focus on the height and placement of García’s arm, arguing it covered space and met the criteria discussed in officiating seminars.
Soto Grado then detailed his final conclusion to the VAR room, stating:
“The position of that hand is very high. It rebounds first off Eric and then off Bellingham. That ball goes over there, and that hand position is up, as we have explained in a seminar.
That hand position is very high. It is not low, and it is covering a space. I’m going to call a penalty.”
Despite the controversial call, the resulting spot-kick was saved by goalkeeper Wojciech Szczęsny, a moment that momentarily gave Barcelona a lifeline and kept the match competitive until the final whistle.