'VAR Has Only Been Used Against Barca' - Koeman After El Clasico Loss

Barcelona coach Ronald Koeman was incisive in his criticism of the referee and the VAR after his side was beaten 3-1 at Camp Nou by Real Madrid in Saturday's El Clasico in La Liga match day 7.

AllNews understands that the VAR overlooked an initial foul on Lionel Messi in the first half but picked the shirt tussle between Lenglet and Ramos which made the Argentine angered.

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

READ ALSO: El Clasico: Ramos, Modric Lift Real Madrid Past Barcelona At Camp Nou

The Madrid captain scored from the spot to restore his side's lead before Luka Modric added the third, inflicting a second consecutive league defeat on the Catalans after last week's 1-0 loss at Getafe.

Ronald Koeman speaks about the VAR pic.twitter.com/TThcUzzsGD

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"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."

Barca had two penalty appeals turned down in the match, when Lionel Messi went down from a challenge by Raphael Varane in the first half and when the ball bounced off the arm of Varane in the second.

Neither incident was reviewed by the referee on the pitchside monitor.

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

"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."

Ramos, however, had no doubt the right decision had been made.

"I think it was a very clear penalty, he tugged my shirt when I was jumping for the ball and it's as clear as daylight. It's unfair to criticize a referee for a decision as clear as that," he said.