Manuel Gräfe has slammed ‘subjective’ VAR as Eric García red card leaves Barcelona reeling after second leg win over Atleti
Former Bundesliga official Manuel Gräfe has slammed VAR after a controversial red card for Eric García derailed Barcelona’s Champions League ambitions against Atlético Madrid.
The Catalan giants were forced to play with ten men for the final stages of their quarter-final clash at the Metropolitano on Tuesday night, eventually being eliminated 4-3 on aggregate despite the 1-2 win on the night.
The match swung decisively in favour of the hosts in the 79th minute when referee Clément Turpin was advised to review a foul committed by García on Alexander Sørloth.
While the French official had initially brandished a yellow card, the intervention of the video assistant suggested that the Spanish centre-back was the last man, preventing a clear goalscoring opportunity just outside the penalty area, despite Jules Koundé providing cover.
García’s reaction was one of pure vitriol; the Spaniard stripped off his shirt and kicked it across the turf as he exited the field, a gesture that underscored the frustration of a side whose European fate hung in the balance.
The decision has sparked a fierce debate across the continent, with Gräfe, a respected international referee who retired in 2021, leading the criticism of the modern officiating system.
Analysing the incident for various media outlets and on social media, the German expert argued that Turpin allowed his natural “instinct” to be overridden by slowed-down video footage.
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Gräfe suggested that the initial yellow card was a perfectly acceptable interpretation of a “grey area” and that the subsequent upgrade to a red card was a betrayal of the official’s sound judgment on the pitch.
According to Gräfe, the nature of the VAR review meant the play was judged as a “still image” without considering the live context of the match.
VAR interference blamed for ‘killing’ European spectacle
For many observers, the dismissal effectively ended Barcelona’s chances of progression, a sentiment echoed by Gräfe in his scathing review of the technology’s impact.
“Enough with subjective VAR decisions that occur during the game [fouls] and only factual decisions [offside/goal] for VAR. What a crazy game! That’s why we love football, but after years, we have to admit that VAR makes football worse,” Gräfe explained.
He argued that the use of video to overturn decisions that are not clear and obvious leads to an imbalance in the game, punishing top-tier referees for their experience and feel for the game.
Gräfe noted that Turpin had refereed the match with authority until the intervention from the VAR booth. He lamented that such a high-stakes fixture was decided by a subjective interpretation rather than a factual error.
“It effectively killed the game, and that wasn’t appropriate or justifiable in this match. And that’s the problem with VAR: top referees make good calls based on their experience and feel for the game, and then a single play decides the outcome of a match based on video footage,” he added.
