Amid disputes involving some of the league’s biggest players and referees, a recent report revealed that the La Liga table would look very different if VAR did not exist. Referee calls have been the subject of numerous complaints this season; Real Madrid even uploaded a video showing how Ricardo De Burgos Bengoetxea appeared to favour calls against Los Blancos.
Los Cules have also voiced their displeasure with the quality of refereeing in Europe this season, while the Madridistas also profited from two dubious calls that resulted in goals in their most recent El Clasico loss to Barcelona. The new league table now offers a startling depiction of who has been subjected to VAR’s harshest penalties.
La Liga Table Without VAR
Real Madrid would be in the hotseat
If VAR hadn’t been involved, Carlo Ancelotti’s team would have been the clear league leaders, according to the updated league table. With one game remaining, the winners from the previous season are four points behind Hansi Flick’s successors, but without technology, they would lead the field by eight points.
With 88 points to Barcelona’s 80, Madrid would have won the championship even sooner and penalised the Catalan powerhouses for their midseason woes. Barcelona would have gone the other way and lost three more games, while the eventual runners-up would have secured three more victories. ”
In addition, Madrid’s goal differential would increase while their opponents’ would deteriorate.
The players’ discontent throughout the season, summed up by Jude Bellingham’s tirade in the tunnel after the Copa del Rey final that “everything 50-50 goes their [Barcelona’s] way,” may be partially explained by the findings.
Other Changes to La Liga Table
The race for the top four would be even tighter
There would be some significant ramifications further down the table in addition to the battle at the top. Atletico Madrid would be seven points ahead of fourth-place Athletic Club, who would then be tied with Villarreal instead of two points ahead of them, even though the order of teams in third to fifth place would not change.
Without VAR, the drop-off from Mallorca would be severe, but the bottom three would likewise stay the same. Currently, the team that used to be home to Samuel Eto’o is comfortably in 10th place. But if it weren’t for the technology, they would be ten points worse off and in 17th place, barely a point over the drop zone.
Alaves, on the other hand, would have been among the greatest winners, moving up six spots from 14th to 9th, which would have put them in the running for a European position going into the final day.
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