El clasico: Ronald Koeman says VAR 'only used to make decisions against Barcelona'

Real Madrid captain Ramos awarded controversial penalty while Barca are denied two claims in 3-1 loss

Luka Modric makes it 3-1 to Real Madrid against Barcelona at Camp Nou on Saturday, October 24. Getty

Real midfielder Luka Modric celebrates his goal. Getty

Real's Toni Kroos picks up Lionel Messi after a foul. AFP

Real Madrid's Sergio Ramos celebrates with teammates after scoring their second goal. Reuters

Real were awarded a penalty via VAR after Sergio Ramos was fouled by Barcelona's Clement Lenglet. Reuters

Spanish referee Juan Martinez Munuera reviews the VAR before awarding Real Madrid a penalty. AFP

Sergio Ramos scores Real's second goal from the penalty spot. Getty

Barcelona's Ansu Fati levels the score at 1-1. AFP

Ansu Fati celebrates scoring for Barca. Getty

Real's Sergio Ramos launches a sliding tackle on Sergino Dest of Barca. Reuters

Barca's Lionel Messi surrounded by Real players. Getty

Federico Valverde opens the scoring for Real Madrid. Getty

Barcelona's Lionel Messi skips over a challenge by Casemiro of Real. AFP

Federico Valverde celebrates his goal for Real. Getty

Empty stands at the Camp Nou due to Covid-19 restrictions. AP

Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane, left, and his Barcelona counterpart Ronald Koeman before the match. AFP

Real's Sergio Ramos celebrates scoring from the spot. Reuters

Barca's Lionel Messi receives treatment in the first half. AFP

Barcelona's Philippe Coutinho shoots at goal. Reuters

Lionel Messi, right, celebrates with Barca teammates after Ansu Fati's goal. AFP

Real Madrid's Casemiro under pressure from Frenkie de Jong of Barca. AP

Barcelona coach Ronald Koeman was fiercely critical of the match officials and VAR following the 3-1 defeat to Real Madrid in el clasico, saying the technology "is only used to make decisions against Barca".

Sergio Ramos was awarded a controversial penalty midway through the second half following a pitchside VAR review when his shirt was tugged by Barca defender Clement Lenglet.

The Madrid captain stepped up to dispatch the spot kick to restore Madrid's lead before Luka Modric sealed the win on 90 minutes to inflict a second consecutive league defeat on the Catalans after last week's 1-0 loss at Getafe.

"I don't understand VAR, I think it is only used to make decisions against Barca," Koeman told a news conference.

"You always get shirt tugs like that in the area and I think Ramos makes a foul on Lenglet first. There's a tug of the shirt, but not enough to make him fall behind as he did ... for me it's not a penalty."

To add to the Dutchman's angst, Barca had two penalty appeals of their own turned down. Lionel Messi went down from a challenge by Raphael Varane in the first half and Barca were denied in the second half when the ball bounced off the arm of Madrid's French defender.

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Real Madrid v Barcelona ratings

BARCELONA RATINGS: Neto - 6. Powerless to prevent Valverde from opening the scoring but got agonisingly close to Ramos’ accurate penalty. Reuters

Jordi Alba - 7. A classic Alba run on the overlap saw him in oceans of space that allowed him to play a simple pass for Ansu Fati to slot home the equaliser. Replaced by Martin Braithwaite in the final few minutes. Reuters

Clement Lenglet - 6. Booked for a first half bodycheck as Real looked to spring a counterattack, before an inexplicable shirt pull on Ramos gave away a needless penalty that took the game away from his side. EPA

Gerard Pique - 6. A calm head amid the helter-skelter of the Clasico, and the Barca veteran shepherded proceedings well after a shaky opening 10 minutes from his colleagues. Reuters

Sergino Dest - 8. An excellent display defensively against the dangerous duo of Vinicius and Mendy on Real’s left, and the Dutchman wasn’t afraid to foray forward either. Getty

Frenkie de Jong - 6. Typically neat and tidy in possession without clamouring for the big-game limelight. Getty

Sergio Busquets - 5. Failed to track the run of Valverde as the Real man raced away to open the scoring, and the experienced head in midfield was not quite at his polished best as he was targeted for some close physical attention. AP

Philippe Coutinho - 5. Really struggled to get his foot on the ball and make things happen in what was a quick-paced Clasico, and the Brazilian somehow failed to hit the target with a simple header from inside the six-yard box in the second half. Reuters

Ansu Fati - 7. The youngster was always half a yard ahead of Ramos in the build-up to his early equaliser, and he had the defender in trouble again when he worked a yard and fired just wide at the start of the second 45. Getty

Pedri - 5. A big call by manager Ronald Koeman to start the 17-year-old, and the game was played at a speed and intensity that the youngster was perhaps not ready for as he was caught on the ball on more than one occasion. AFP

Lionel Messi - 7. A delightful ball over the top released Alba for Barca’s equaliser, but the Argentine really should have scored when he strolled past Ramos and forced a great save from Courtois. Booked for dissent in the closing stages. Getty

Antoine Griezmann - N/A. Unable to make an impact in his short cameo. AFP

Ousmane Dembele - N/A. Tried to stretch the Real defence but it was too little, too late. Reuters

Francisco Trincao - N/A. Didn’t work his way into the game in the closing stages. Getty

Martin Braithwaite - N/A. Unable to sniff out a late chance. Getty

REAL MADRID RATINGS: Thibaut Courtois - 6. Nothing he could do about Fati’s goal, but an excellent save denied Messi later on in the first half. Getty

Ferland Mendy - 6. A real presence on the overlap and provided great support for Vinicius as the forward looked to drift inside and create. EPA

Sergio Ramos - 7. Allowed Messi to escape his attention far too easily and was lucky to have Courtois in top form behind him. A threat from set pieces at the other end, though, and superbly tucked away a second-half penalty he won when his shirt was pulled by Lenglet. AFP

Raphael Varane - 6. Played a backseat role in the middle of Real’s defence with Ramos being the main defensive carrier of the ball, but the Frenchman never found himself in any real danger. AFP

Nacho - 6. Put himself about in effective fashion but picked up a booking in the first half for a poor lunge on Coutinho, and was replaced shortly after by Lucas Vazquez for what looked like an injury. AFP

Casemiro - 6. Booked in the opening 20 minutes for trying (and failing) to cynically halt a Messi run through the Real backline, but a brilliant tackle in the penalty area denied the Barca dangerman a shot on goal soon after. A mixed bag of a game for the midfield destroyer. Getty

Toni Kroos - 7. Expertly marshalled the midfield in typical Rolls-Royce fashion, but he will be disappointed he didn’t finish the game off when he fired straight at Neto late on. Reuters

Federico Valverde - 7. The Uruguayan showed great awareness to make a darting run in behind before expertly clipping the ball past Neto to put Real ahead inside five minutes. Replaced by Luka Modric on 68 minutes after picking up a knock. AP

Marco Asensio - 5. The more subdued of the Madrid attacking trio and the game largely passed him by, with most of his side’s joy coming down the other flank. Replaced by Rodrygo for the final 10 minutes. AP

Vinicius Junior - 6. Always looked dangerous and on the verge of making something happen in the first half, but the 20-year-old faded in the second period and was unable to get back into the game. EPA

Karim Benzema - 7. A lovely ball through the lines released Valverde for the opener and the Madrid number 9 knitted play together brilliantly in the final third, but he will be bitterly disappointed that he was unable to stretch Neto when presented with a great chance at the midway point of the first half. Reuters

Lucas Vazquez - 7. Occasionally looked like a winger playing at right back, but on the whole, he slotted in excellently and adapted well to a tricky brief. AFP

Luka Modric - 7. Showed brilliant composure to wriggle away from a couple of defenders and slot the ball home in the final minute to seal the win. Getty

Rodrygo - N/A. Played his part in the final goal of the game when he squared a loose ball to Modric. AFP

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Neither incident was reviewed by the referee on the pitchside monitor, with Koeman lamenting the lack of VAR decisions to go in Barca's favour this season.

"We have had five matches and [VAR] has only been used to go against Barca. It's never gone our way," Koeman said.

"The decision had a big influence on the final result, because we were playing well up to the penalty. We played well, we created chances and it's difficult to understand how we lost, we didn't deserve to lose how we did."