How many times have we heard about a ref being "biased" against a particular team? Well, more times than you can imagine.
That's why we, at LiveSoccerTV.com, decided to take a deeper look into how referees have behaved when having to work in a Barcelona or Real Madrid match before El Clásico.
This article is only intended to be a statistical analysis, not our thoughts on how the refs are biased to favor one of these teams (or both, if that was the case).
Barcelona
Los Blaugranas have played nine La Liga games this season. Ernesto Valverde's team has picked up 13 yellow cards and a straight red, with those thirteen bookings taking place in seven games. Samuel Umtiti and Gerard Piqué share the "honor" of being Barcelona's most-booked players this season, with two yellow cards each. Center back Clement Lenglet was sent off against Girona, being the only Blaugrana player to get a red card.
Real Madrid
Julen Lopetegui's men haven't exactly been what you would call "loyal" against other teams, as they have earned 17 bookings this season. While there have been no red cards shown to Los Blancos' footballers, the Spanish capital giants have only escaped one game without a booking out of their nine La Liga fixtures. Right back Dani Carvajal has earned the most yellow cards, with La Liga refs booking him three times. Casemiro, Luka Modric, Lucas Vázquez and Marcelo have been booked twice each.
What about VAR?
The Video Assistant Referee, commonly known as VAR, has had a hand in numerous games featuring Barcelona and Real Madrid. Contrary to popular belief, both of these teams have reasons to complain about this system, which we will analyze in the next few lines.
Los Blaugranas had Clement Lenglet sent off via a VAR review against Girona. The decision was highly controversial, as Lenglet seemed to be fouled by Girona's defender. The ref thought differently and decided to give the Frenchman a straight red. Another incident involving Los Blaugranas took place during Matchday 2 against Valladolid, where Los Pucelanos were denied the equalizer after the ref looked at the replay.
On the other side of the pitch, Real Madrid's brushes with technology have ended in disappointment. Los Blancos have seen two of their goals denied by the Video Assistant Referee, one against Sevilla and the other one against Levante. In that same game, Levante was correctly awarded a penalty after a VAR review, since the initial decision was a free kick just outside Los Blancos' box.
So there you have it. Here's how these teams have behaved (or not) during this season. Will a red card be key to decide the outcome of the game tomorrow?
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