New Delhi: VAR (Video Assistant Referee) seriously needs to be introduced in La Liga as many teams, especially league leaders Barcelona, have been at the receiving end of disallowed goals, where the ball had crossed the goal line but it didn't catch the eye of the referee or his assistants.
On Monday, it was the second time in a month that Barca faced a similar fate in the hands of the referee, as the human eye couldn't catch the perfection of Suarez's rabona shot when the ball had crossed the line of Deportivo's goal.
(Also read: Barcelona thrash Deportivo to extend La Liga lead ahead of El Clasico)
Suarez attempted the rabona from a tight angle towards the goal. Even though Deportivo's goalkeeper Ruben Martinez clawed the ball away, it looked like it had crossed the line, but the referee ruled it out. Further replays showed that the ball had indeed gone past the goal line, but the absence of VAR led to the goal being disallowed. Even though Barcelona won the match 4-0, with Luis Suarez twice on the scoresheet, the disallowed goal denied him a hat-trick and possibly a major boost to his edgy form this season ahead of the El Clasico this weekend.
Barca already had a disallowed goal against Celta Vigo on 2nd December. The match ended in a draw, 2-2, and it was Suarez again. He latched on to a perfect through ball by Messi, and scored past the goalkeeper, but the referee and his linesman ruled it as offside. In replays, it was shown that Suarez wasn't offside, and had made an amazing run to beat the offside trap. The goal had perfectly crossed the line, if allowed, would have given them the victory, and would have increased their lead over second-placed Atletico Madrid by 8 points.
On 27th November, Barca again had a Lionel Messi goal disallowed against Valencia and the match ended in a 1-1 draw. Barcelona faced similar problems last season too, which cost them the league title.
La Liga looks to be in serious need of VAR. The Spanish Football Federation has announced that it will be introduced next season but could have been put into service this season itself, given the reported incidents last season.
