Barcelona President Joan Laporta calls for El Clasico to be replayed amid VAR dispute

Barcelona's president, Joan Laporta, advocates for a replay of Sunday's El Clasico match following a controversial VAR decision.

Joan Laporta, the president of Barcelona, has called for a replay of Sunday's El Clasico match due to a contentious VAR decision. In the match against Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabéu, Barcelona had a potential goal by Lamine Yamal disallowed, contributing to their 3-2 defeat.

With LaLiga lacking goal-line technology, a VAR review concluded that Andriy Lunin had successfully prevented the ball from crossing the line, despite conflicting replays. In response, Laporta has presented evidence suggesting an error in the decision-making process, advocating for the league to reconsider the match.

Laporta stated, "If, upon reviewing these documents, the club determines an error in the judgment of the shot—which we strongly believe to be the case—we will take all necessary actions to rectify the situation, including potential legal action." He also indicated that if the goal is proven to be legitimate, Barcelona will push for a rematch, citing previous instances in European matches where VAR errors led to replay requests.

Following this controversy, Barcelona finds themselves trailing Madrid by 11 points in the title race, with their next match against Valencia scheduled for next Monday.