VAR denies Real Madrid penalty retake after Mbappé miss against Betis

To the naked eye, Marc Bartra had leaped into the penalty area before Kylian Mbappé struck the ball. To the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) and the Technical Committee of Referees (CTA), however, Bartra remained legally outside the zone because one foot never left the turf. This distinction in the laws of the game preserved a 1-0 victory for Real Betis and handed Real Madrid its first defeat of the season on Friday, 6 September 2026.

The decision followed a prolonged review after Betis goalkeeper Álvaro Valles saved a penalty from Mbappé in the 90+5 minute. While Real Madrid players demanded a retake due to Bartra's apparent encroachment, the VAR — operated by Javier Iglesias Villanueva — ruled the action legal. The result leaves Real Madrid with six points, while Betis climbs to third place in La Liga.

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The Sequence at La Cartuja

The match reached its climax in the 90+5 minute when a foul on Vinícius earned Real Madrid a penalty. Kylian Mbappé took the shot, but Valles saved the attempt. In the immediate aftermath, Marc Bartra cleared the rebound, preventing Mbappé from recovering the ball. The subsequent VAR review lasted more than three minutes as officials examined whether Bartra had entered the area prematurely.

Images showed Bartra moving toward the area during the run-up. According to El Español, his right foot was clearly inside the area, while his left appeared supported on the line of the medialuna, the 9.15-meter mark. Because the left foot remained in contact with the ground, the CTA determined there was no punishable invasion.

Point of Contact vs. Air Projection

The controversy centers on a nuance in the IFAB and CARD regulations regarding how a player's position is measured during a restart. Current rules establish two distinct scenarios for defenders:

Player State	Position Determination	Ruling Criterion
Partially Grounded	Actual point of contact	Position of feet or any body part touching the soil.
Fully Airborne	Projected position	Position of feet as if they were touching the ground.

According to Flashscore, citing analyst Mateu Lahoz, Bartra's left foot was outside the area at the moment of impact. The IFAB regulation specifies that the term en el aire applies only when the entire body is separated from the ground. Consequently, the "projection" rule, which would have counted Bartra's airborne right foot as an invasion, was deemed inapplicable.

Bartra himself acknowledged the razor-thin margin of his maneuver. He stated that if Mbappé had launched the ball just half a second earlier or later, he likely would have been caught inside the area, as reported by Esdiario.

A Calculated Gamble

The defender's positioning was not accidental. Bartra revealed after the match that he had deliberately studied a similar movement performed by Gayà several matches prior. Seeking to exploit the regulations, Bartra consulted a friend, a former Segunda B referee, to understand the exact limit of anticipation allowed before an invasion is called.

By ensuring one foot remained anchored to the turf outside the boundary while leaping with the other, Bartra effectively bypassed the projection rule. This strategic application of the manual allowed him to be physically closer to the ball upon the save without triggering a penalty retake.

Expert Dissent and UEFA Precedent

Despite the CTA's support of the VAR's decision, the interpretation has faced public criticism from former officiating experts. Xavier Estrada Fernández argued via X (formerly Twitter) that the CARD manual supports a retake in this instance. His argument rests on the premise that if a defender jumps and their projection falls within the area, and they subsequently intervene in the play, the invasion must be penalized.

Estrada Fernández further noted that UEFA has used similar logic in past matches, calculating a player's position based on the projection of their feet to order retakes. This creates a direct conflict between the CTA's strict "point of contact" interpretation and the "spirit of the rule" favored by some former referees, who see the projection as the primary metric for fairness during airborne movements.

Consequences for Mbappé and Real Madrid

The loss marks a stumble for Real Madrid in the early stages of the season. Beyond the points lost, the miss adds to a documented struggle for Kylian Mbappé from the penalty spot. According to Ahora, the French forward has missed 15 penalties throughout his career, including a failure against Morocco in the 2026 World Cup quarterfinals on 9 July 2026.

His recent record includes misses against Barcelona (26 October 2025), Real Sociedad (24 May 2025), and Athletic Club (4 December 2024), as well as a Champions League miss against Liverpool on 27 November 2024. During the 2024/25 season, he executed nine penalties and missed three, resulting in a 66% success rate.

The ambiguity of this rule's application now remains a focal point for La Liga. With the CTA and former referees in disagreement over the balance between physical contact and aerial projection, the precedent set at La Cartuja leaves open the question of whether the VAR's criterion aligned with the spirit of the norma or if the ambiguity of the regulation ultimately disadvantaged the Madrid side.