Díaz de Mera overturns Real Madrid goal after VAR intervention

Isidro Díaz de Mera first awarded a goal to Real Madrid against Villarreal, then disallowed it after video assistant referee Alejandro Muñiz Ruiz intervened. Díaz de Mera, from La Mancha, had not initially spotted the infringement. Muñiz Ruiz, from Galicia, asked him to review the incident; after checking it, Díaz de Mera confirmed the foul and changed his decision.

The incident involved Vinícius Júnior and Nathan Saliba. The Brazilian had pulled the Villarreal defender’s hair seconds before the goal, which would have been Real Madrid’s second in the match. The VAR review therefore overturned a goal that had initially been given on the field.

The decision brought renewed attention to a tally of goals first awarded by referees and later disallowed after video review for an infringement in the attacking move. Real Madrid have 42 in this statistic since VAR was introduced in Liga. Atlético de Madrid and Villarreal follow with 22 each; Celta Vigo, Real Sociedad and Sevilla have 20 apiece. Barcelona are seventh with 19 disallowed goals.

The statistic attributed to Alexis Martín Tamayo, known as “MisterChip,” puts Real Madrid 20 goals ahead of Atlético de Madrid and Villarreal, and 23 ahead of Barcelona. It is based on a hypothetical scenario: those goals would have stood if matches had continued without VAR intervention. They are therefore projected outcomes, not goals actually scored.

Across the period from 2018 to 2026, Real Madrid would have benefited from the validation of about 4.6 irregular goals per season without VAR, compared with 2.1 for Barcelona. Since video assistance was introduced in Liga in the 2018-2019 season, Real Madrid’s total stands at 42, an average close to five per season. In the same hypothetical scenario, Atlético de Madrid and Villarreal would have reached about 2.4 goals each per season; Celta Vigo, Real Sociedad and Sevilla, 2.2 each.