Crushed At Mestalla, Evidence That VAR Does Not Always Benefit Madrid

JAKARTA - Three penalty kicks and an own goal knocked Real Madrid 1-4 against Valencia in the ninth week of the Spanish League at the Mestalla Stadium, Sunday local time (Monday WIB).

In fact, Los Blancos first took the lead thanks to Karim Benzema's hard shot which could beat goalkeeper Jaume Domenech in the 23rd minute, Antara noted on the official Spanish League website.

Zinedine Zidane's team also appeared to dominate with 64 percent of the ball's possession and fired no less than 16 attempted shots throughout the match, but these statistics were not translated into the final score of the match.

In the 29th minute, Valencia is awarded a penalty after Lucas Vazquez blocks Jose Gaya's cross with his hand.

Carlos Soler's penalty execution was initially pushed over by goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, Soler grabbed the ball vomiting but his shot hit the crossbar and then Yunus Musah grabbed the gagged ball to score.

However, the goal was ruled out because Musah entered the penalty box too quickly before he kicked the ball, so the execution was repeated and this time Courtois couldn't stop his shot to open Valencia's lead in the 33rd minute.

Two minutes from halftime, Raphael Varane scored an own goal as he tried to cut Maxi Gomez's bait. Varane actually managed to kick the ball from inside the net, but VAR and referee Jesus Gil Manzano decided the ball had crossed the line before being swept away by Varane, giving Valencia the lead.

⚽ 35'⚽ 54'⚽ 61'¡Hat-trick de @ Carlos10Soler en el #ValenciaRealMadrid! #LaLigaSantander #HayQueVivirla pic.twitter.com/ZY577SLZXB

- LaLiga (@LaLiga) November 8, 2020

Valencia entered the second half more confidently, but Lee Kang-in's shot was tapped by Courtois before hitting the post.

However, in the 51st minute Marcelo tackled Gomez hard so that the referee again pointed to the spot. This time Soler was calmer and increased Valencia's lead to 3-1.

Real Madrid tried to retaliate but Federico Valverde and Marco Asensio's shots were saved by goalkeeper Jaume Domenech.

Then VAR and the referee awarded a penalty for Valencia again in the 62nd minute, after three minutes of reviewing the incident Sergio Ramos was deemed to have touched the ball with his hand in the forbidden area.

Soler coldly struck the ball again from the spot to complete his hat-trick in the match while driving Valencia 4-1 away.

FT: @valenciacf_en 4-1 @realmadriden ⚽ Soler 35 '(p), 54' (p), 63 '(p), Varane (og) 45' + 1 '; @Benzema 23 '# Emirates | #HalaMadrid pic.twitter.com/S9JEkzVvFL

- Real Madrid CF 🇬🇧🇺🇸 (@realmadriden) November 8, 2020

Real Madrid's hard work has never paid off and they must be willing to return empty-handed and stuck in fourth place in the standings with 16 points, while Valencia (11) climbed to ninth place.

The Spanish league takes about two weeks for the international break, before Valencia visit Alaves' headquarters and Real Madrid visit Villarreal.

The composition of players:

Valencia (4-4-2): Jaume Domenech; Daniel Wass, Gabriel Paulista, Hugo Guillamon, Jose Gaya; Yunus Musah (Jason), Carlos Soler, Uros Racic, Denis Cheryshev (Toni Lato); Lee Kang-in (Kevin Gameiro), Maxi Gomez (Ruben Sobrino)

Coach: Javi Gracia

Real Madrid (4-2-3-1): Thibaut Courtois; Lucas Vazquez, Raphael Varane, Sergio Ramos, Marcelo; Federico Valverde (Toni Kroos), Luka Modric; Marco Asensio (Rodrygo Goes), Isco (Luka Jovic), Vinicius Junior (Martin Odegaard); Karim Benzema (Mariano Diaz)

Coach: Zinedine Zidane