Let's Talk About Refereeing In La Liga

With a 6-0 win over Deportivo Alaves on Saturday afternoon, FC Barcelona sent a statement to the rest of La Liga – and to Paris-Saint Germain – demonstrating that they are about to hit top form at the business end of the season approaches. It should be a happy, positive time at the club, but the victory was marred by a horrific ankle injury suffered by Catalan full-back, Aleix Vidal.

The former Sevilla winger has endured an up-and-down season and appeared to have turned the corner in the past couple of months. Once exiled by Luis Enrique, Vidal had fought hard to work his way back into the fold and he was working his way into a prominent role in Lucho’s rotation. In his past eight appearances for the Blaugrana, Aleix had registered two goals and five assists, including one this afternoon for Luis Suarez.

The calibre of his performances could have easily seen him challenge Sergi Roberto in the coming weeks and months for the starting berth, but his season appears to have been cruelly cut short by an over-zealous challenge from Theo Hernandez.

The full-back does have some priors when it comes to these type of challenges, and whether or not he had any intent to hurt Vidal is up for debate, but his challenge was crude, excessive and reckless – yet the referee didn’t even whistle for a foul, yet alone brandish a card.

It was the latest in a long line of puzzling decisions made this season by Spanish referees, and it got me and many others thinking (hat-tip to my friend Tim Shao for the idea).

Overall – Total Fouls / Cards / Average

Home – Total Fouls / Cards / Average

Away – Total Fouls / Cards / Average

Barcelona Fixtures – Total Fouls / Cards / Average

So Culés, what do you think about these statistics?