The VAR system is not only having an effect on the game in Spain, it is also affecting people’s jobs! Real Madrid won this year’s Super Cup after beating Atlético in the final, but their opponents could well have been Barcelona instead had González González not stepped in to cancel out strikes by Messi and Piqué after consulting video evidence in the semi against Atleti. At the time the Catalans were cruising, but a Morata penalty which VAR confirmed helped Simeone’s team come back to win, and soon afterwards Barça coach Ernesto Valverde was fired. That probably wouldn’t have happened had they won instead. As they say, it’s a thin line between success and failure, and in this case the thin line was the one on the assistant referee’s video screen! (21.01.20)

Name Games played Yellow cards Red cards Total
Estrada Fernández 13 90 3 93
Sánchez Martínez 12 79 4 83
Melero López 13 74 3 77
Hernández Hernández 11 71 5 76
Medié Jiménez 12 69 5 74
Gil Manzano 13 68 5 73
Cuadra Fernández 12 66 4 70
Mateu Lahoz 12 66 4 70
González Fuentes 11 61 2 63
Martínez Munuera 11 58 4 62