Del Cerro Grande did it again: all the referee's mistakes against Barça from the VAR

FC Barcelona is the undisputed leader of LaLiga despite the mistakes of Carlos del Cerro Grande and the VAR in 2024/25. The Madrid referee has been a true nightmare for the culés from the VAR room, although some of his colleagues, like Figueroa Vázquez (against Rayo in Vallecas) and Pizarro Gómez (against Osasuna in Pamplona), also did their part to harm the azulgrana team.

The former omitted a clear penalty by Lejeune on Dani Olmo, in addition to sparing a red card for Pathé Ciss in the Rayo-Barça (1-2). That same matchday (the third), there was a disallowed goal for Robert Lewandowski due to a previous stomp by Jules Koundé practically identical to the one committed by Pablo Ibáñez on Pau Víctor before Bryan Zaragoza's 2-0 partial goal in the Osasuna-Barça (4-2).

🚨Disallowed goal for Lewandowski due to a non-existent offside - matchday 12

In the case of Del Cerro Grande, his 'show' began on matchday 12. Lewandowski saw how the VAR, led by the Madrid referee, disallowed a goal in the 13th minute for a millimetric offside. The image taken by the semi-automatic VAR was clearly altered, as the Polish forward's right foot appears stretched to surpass the line of his marker (Nayef Aguerd). Sheraldo Becker would score, 20 minutes later, the winning goal for the Donostiarras (1-0).

The semi-automatic VAR image that disallowed Lewandowski's goal

🚨Illegal goal validated for Sevilla and red card for Fermín - matchday 24

On matchday 24, against Sevilla, there were two controversies at the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán. First, the VAR official validated an illegal goal by Ruben Vargas. The Sevilla player scored the 1-1 equalizer in the 8th minute, but the goal was preceded by a clear offside by Saúl Ñíguez. The referees took Ronald Araujo as the last man when drawing the lines, instead of Iñigo Martínez, who was the last man of the azulgrana defense.

Scandal in Sevilla - Barcelona! Illegal goal? A VAR error ignites controversy

In the second half, the red card for Fermín López in the 62nd minute was, at least, questionable. The main referee Alejandro Hernández Hernández had booked the Huelva player for a late tackle on the Swiss Djibril Sow. The yellow card was fair, as the azulgrana midfielder managed to touch the ball before impacting the opponent with his right foot. However, after Del Cerro Grande's call from the VAR room, the Canarian referee opted to reverse his initial decision, showing the direct red card that resulted in a suspension match for the '16' azulgrana.

Fermín López, sent off for sweeping Djibril Sow

🚨Unnecessary review of a penalty hand preceded by a clear offside - matchday 25

And finally, this Saturday came Del Cerro Grande's last role that could have cost the azulgrana two points. The Madrid referee got the main referee Cordero Vega into an unnecessary mess by asking him to review a possible penalty hand by Eric García in the 82nd minute. Although the azulgrana defender did touch the ball with his hand, the play was invalidated due to an offside and a previous hand by Álex Muñoz. In fact, two players from Las Palmas were offside at the start of the play, but the Cantabrian referee wasted 4 minutes reviewing the action on the monitor.