Raphael Varane hits back at Barcelona president’s claims of VAR bias in favour of Real Madrid

Raphael Varane has hit back at accusations Real Madrid receive favourable VAR decisions after they were awarded penalties in their last three matches.

A 2-0 win over Alaves on Friday night reasserted Real’s four-point advantage over rivals Barcelona at the top of LaLiga.

Karim Benzema converted the penalty while VAR intervened to award a goal by Marco Asensio that was originally ruled out for offside against Benzema.

Varane was responding to suggestions from Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu that the video technology favours Madrid after a contentious penalty decision in their win over Athletic Bilbao last weekend.

‘I watched the San Mames match until almost the end of the second half,’ Bartomeu had said. ‘I feel bad because we have the best league in the world and VAR after coronavirus isn’t fair.

‘It has changed some results and always favours the same team.’ 

But French defender Varane told Movistar: ‘Outside noise doesn’t matter to us. We are focused on winning and giving everything on the pitch.

Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu had suggested VAR decisions favour Real Madrid

‘We don’t control the VAR, we control the effort and attitude we show on the pitch.’

Real are closing in on their first league title since 2016-17 and have favourable matches against Granada, Villarreal and Leganes still to play.

Barcelona, meanwhile, face Valladolid, Osasuna and Alaves as they attempt to overhaul the four-point gap and defend their title.

‘We are focused on our objective and we have three finals left,’ Varane added.

‘It was important to win, of course, but it is very important to keep a clean sheet. That gives us a lot of confidence.

‘We will continue with the positive dynamic we have.’