Real Madrid heavily favoured by VAR decisions, claims former Barcelona defender Dani Alves

In a sensational post on Twitter, former Barcelona right-back Dani Alves has claimed that VAR has blatantly helped Real Madrid this season. The Brazilian defender has never been one to shy away from controversy and has claimed that most decisions in La Liga go Real Madrid's way.

Dani Alves played for Barcelona at a time when the club's rivalry with Real Madrid was at its peak. The Brazilian got into several clashes with his Real Madrid counterparts and has always been vocal about his opinions on the rivalry between Barcelona and Real Madrid.

Dani Alves is arguably one of the best right-backs in modern history and made the position his own at Barcelona several years ago. The defender shared a telepathic relationship with current Barcelona captain Lionel Messi and the two wreaked havoc in La Liga.

The Barcelona legend has shared a dressing room with Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos while the two were at Sevilla but based on recent events, there is clearly no love lost between the charismatic duo.

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Barcelona great Dani Alves slams VAR and La Liga referees for favouring Real Madrid

The VAR has been subjected to intense debate in La Liga over the past few weeks with several recent decisions seeming to go Real Madrid's way. Sergio Ramos and Zinedine Zidane have slammed their opponents for maligning the league and have claimed that Real Madrid has maintained a high standard of sportsmanship in the league.

Dani Alves, however, has claimed that double standards that referees have shown in the recent past show a strong bias towards Real Madrid. The Barcelona great has accused Real Madrid of influencing officials in the league on several occasions in the past.

"One day they taught us that we had to do much more than what we do, or it would not be enough for us. That's how it was."

The Barcelona legend's tweet has obviously not gone down well with the Real Madrid fans who claim that most of the VAR decisions have been perfectly valid. Real Madrid was awarded a penalty after a blatant stamp by Dani Garcia on Marcelo's foot.

The former Barcelona defender, however, pointed out that Sergio Ramos stepped on Raul Garcia's foot a few minutes later in the penalty area. Real Madrid has been awarded several penalties by VAR in the recent past and while most of the decisions have been correct, questions are being raised regarding the timing of the technology's usage.

Sergio Ramos dispatched a flawless penalty to give Real Madrid the lead

Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu has also claimed that VAR has not been as effective as he had hoped this season. The much-maligned executive alluded to the fact that VAR has been highly influential at several crucial junctures in Real Madrid's season.

Real Madrid is currently 4 points above Barcelona at the top of the La Liga table and is likely to reclaim the league title from the Catalans. Barcelona, however, made it clear that its superstars are in no mood to throw in the towel after a resounding 4-1 thrashing of Villarreal.

Also Read: Villarreal 1-4 Barcelona Player Ratings as Antoine Griezmann wonder goal silences critics in vintage Blaugrana performance | La Liga 2019-20

About the author

Aditya is a European and international football writer at Sportskeeda, covering previews, news, post-match articles and live blogs for 5 years. During his time here, he has had the privilege of covering a press meeting during the collaboration between his favorite club Bengaluru FC and Sevilla, where he got a chance to interact with Sevilla president Jose Castro and explore the grassroots development in his city.

Aditya started following the sport after being dazzled by Ronaldinho’s silky feet at the 2006 FIFA World Cup. He is a Barcelona fan and unsurprisingly, his favorite manager and players are Pep Guardiola and Andres Iniesta respectively. He admires the latter for his superhuman talent and his off-pitch demeanor, and his winning goal in Spain’s 2010 World Cup final win over the Netherlands left a lasting impact on Aditya.

The match-preview specialist believes that his ongoing five-year stint at Sportskeeda has given him the ability to identify the distinct line between emotional and fact-based articles, which separates him from other journalists. For him, fact-checking is the most integral part of his writing process and he only relies on authentic platforms for data.

Aditya is a semi-professional pianist and likes to participate in concerts and recitals when not immersed in football.

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Edited by Aditya Hosangadi