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Sergio Ramos scored his 99th goal for Real Madrid and left Ronald Koeman cursing VAR and facing a crisis as a Barcelona manager.
Ramos’ goal was the crucial third of the first Clásico behind closed doors. He put Real Madrid 2-1 up and came from the penalty spot after VAR advised referee Juan Martínez to review a jerk off of Clement Lenglet’s Ramos.
“I hope that one day they can explain to me how VAR works in Spain,” Koeman said. “We have played five games and he has only intervened against Barcelona, never in our favor.”
It was a convenient alternative narrative. In the subsequent press conference, of the seven questions he faced, four were about the penalty and only two about the match.
That saved him from questioning why he chose 17-year-old Pedri to play out of position on the wing ahead of Antoine Griezmann. Or why there was a complete lack of reaction after his team lagged behind, falling for the second straight loss in LaLiga.
And why did he wait until the 81st minute to make his first substitution, even though Ramos’s goal in the 63rd minute had taken all faith from his team.
That triple change, with Griezmann, Ousmane Dembélé and Francisco Trincao, left Barcelona with five attackers on the field. They got more confused than Real, who controlled the midfield and got a third through Luka Modric.
Lionel Messi made a desolate figure at the end. He has added 515 minutes (six Clásicos) without scoring against Real.
Not all were bad news for Barça. Ansu Fati will not turn 18 until next weekend but he became LaLiga’s top scorer by equaling Fede Valverde’s first goal by converting a Jordi Alba center from close range, his fourth goal of the season.
Sergino Dest, 19, was also impressive. The first American to play the Clásico did well as a right-back and also surprised Spanish television when he was introduced for the post-match interview and told them he only spoke English. American English of course. Your first response explaining how you felt about the defeat? ‘I’m an idiot!’
Zinedine Zidane dignified himself in victory. His happy ability to win the biggest games rarely disappoints him.
Never mind the embarrassing defeats of newly promoted Cádiz and non-Champions Shakhtar Donetsk, this was their seventh match for Real Madrid at the Camp Nou and they have never lost yet.
He turned down the offer to crush the result to his critics: “We are not here to shut people up,” he said. “We are only here to do our job.”
Koeman won’t be under too much pressure now, even if he loses to Juventus in Turin on Wednesday. Barcelona is in sufficient institutional chaos, with elections scheduled for March and likely to move forward to January after a vote of no confidence, to even contemplate a change.
Zidane was the technician whose job was potentially at stake. With Mauricio Pochettino out of work and Raúl already at the club coaching the youth team, there are two accessible replacements available.
But Zidane came out of another game in which you have to win with the same confident half smile he had when he entered, unfazed and with a six-point lead over Barcelona, who are back on the canvas full of doubts and enraged in VAR.
Source: m.allfootballapp.com
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