Eric García was sent off in Barcelona’s match against Atlético de Madrid after a VAR review overturned the referee’s first decision. Clément Turpin initially showed the Barcelona defender a yellow card, then changed it to red moments later after going to the monitor.
The incident came when Sorloth was heading almost alone toward the goal defended by Joan Garcia and García tried to stop the play. It was the kind of moment that leaves no room for calm in the box, and this one ended with Barcelona down a man at a critical point in the game.
Mateu Lahoz backed the intervention without hesitation. “Por fin se hace un uso racional del VAR,” he said, adding, “Y yo que me alegro de que lo vaya a ver.” He also argued that “Koundé no está frontal para defender la acción de frente” and said of the referee, “¿Quién es el árbitro principal del encuentro? Clément Turpin. Pues me parece genial que lo vaya a ver.”
The match between Barcelona and Atlético was once again marked by controversy, and the red card made Barcelona’s comeback harder. Koundé was close to the play, but not close enough to change the outcome of the review once Turpin checked it himself.
For Barcelona, the dismissal was more than a disciplinary note. It shifted the balance of the match, and by the time the referee confirmed the red, the cost of García’s challenge was already clear.
