Why Barcelona got a penalty against Rayo Vallecano: The VAR and Referee conversation breakdown | OneFootball

FC Barcelona were able to return to the top spot in La Liga after getting another three points from their hard-fought 1-0 win over Rayo Vallecano at the Lluís Companys Olympic Stadium last night.

As the scoreline suggests, this was quite a difficult game to win for the Blaugranes, who were able to gain the three points only because of the penalty converted by Robert Lewandowski in the 28th minute.

This penalty was only one of the several controversial moments from the game last night. However, while some other incidents may command more debate, there is very little to argue against the penalty that was awarded to Barcelona after Pathé Ciss handled Iñigo Martínez inside the Rayo box.

In fact, as Mundo Deportivo has reported, the conversation between the on-field referee, Mario Melero López, and the VAR referee, Isidro Díaz de Mera Escuderos, has also been revealed, which took place as mentioned below:

Díaz de Mera: “Mario, I recommend an OFR (On-Field Review) to assess a possible penalty.”Melero López: “Perfect, I’ll check it. Show me the image—I need to see the grab. It was Pathé Ciss, right?”Díaz de Mera: “Yes.”Melero López: “Alright, he’s clearly ignoring the ball. He’s grabbing him by the stomach with his left hand. He’s not looking at the ball, so I’m going to award a penalty and a yellow card.”Díaz de Mera: “Perfect, Mario.”

This conversation erases any doubts as to why the penalty was awarded to Barcelona last night. Normally, this incident wouldn’t have sparked much debate, but Rayo Vallecano had two penalty appeals overturned and also saw one of their goals disallowed for offside.

These events, coupled with the ongoing controversy regarding the referees in Spain, have made even this penalty a subject of debate. But fortunately, Barcelona did their job and got the full three points from this game, which will allow them to go to the top of the table for now.