Has VAR controversy decided EPL title? Plus: Barcelona seal La Liga title in Clasico

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Plus: Barcelona seal La Liga title in ClasicoPablo and the crucial foul on David Raya Alex Pantling/Getty Images Share articleThe Athletic FC ⚽ is The Athletic’s daily football (or soccer, if you prefer) newsletter. Sign up to receive it directly to your inbox. Hello! One hand was on David Raya. Another is on the Premier League trophy. Has VAR just decided the title? ⌛ Rodriguez’s Minnesota time up A lot of people are distinctly unamused, but a VAR review nudging the Premier League title Arsenal’s way by disallowing a goal scored against them from a set piece is objectively funny. The moment will go down in folklore at the club, and rank among the most contentious interventions the VAR system will ever make. It was huge for Arsenal, putting them two wins from the championship. Had Callum Wilson’s 95th-minute strike for West Ham United been allowed to stand yesterday, they would have been back to counting on goal difference to fend off Manchester City, who threw everything into a 3-0 win against Brentford on Saturday. As it is, this might be game, set and match to Arsenal. City counted on a big result turning the screw, and it did. Arsenal and Mikel Arteta made incredibly hard work of their trip to West Ham, where Arteta’s substitutions and game management tied his team in knots. But a late Leandro Trossard winner, followed by Wilson’s goal-that-wasn’t from a chaotic corner in stoppage time, saved the day. Like me, you’ll have watched the disallowed effort time and again. I do think it’s a foul — Pablo’s arm impeded Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya (above) — but the problem comes from the fact that a) if you look closely, everybody seems to be wrestling everybody, and b) we’ve seen goals allowed to stand in similar circumstances this season (more than one of them benefiting Arsenal). Arteta wrote the book on mayhem at set pieces. As West Ham captain Jarrod Bowen asked afterwards: “Where’s the consistency?” Our refereeing expert, Graham Scott, thinks corners need major reform. He felt the VAR, Darren England, was on a hiding to nothing, whatever he did, and the time these calls take to reach — drawing more criticism towards the video system — no doubt reflects the monumental pressure felt by those responsible. The outcome of the Wilson review was inevitably going to be sliced and diced ad infinitum. Which brings us to a broader point: how does the Premier League, or football more widely, break out of the cycle where the VAR system dominates weekend after weekend, where the narrative is consumed by all of us picking over slow-motion replays? And beyond that, how do football’s lawmakers go about defining what constitutes a foul at a set piece? Much like handball, interpretations seem to change with the wind. West Ham needed a point badly. They’re hanging on in 18th place and if Tottenham Hotspur pick up a win at home against now-safe Leeds United tonight, West Ham will be four points adrift with two fixtures remaining — the writing on the wall, in other words. They’re not the only club facing a major reckoning, either. Liverpool’s crowd were in mutinous mood during a 1-1 draw with Chelsea. They roundly berated Arne Slot when he replaced 17-year-old Rio Ngumoha with Alexander Isak in the second half — the feeling was that Cody Gakpo should have made way instead — and his relationship with the fans is badly fractured, if not broken completely. Liverpool sound like they will stand by Slot over the summer, but in the court of public opinion, he’s fighting for his life. You’d hardly believe that this time last year, the Anfield club were already champions and basking in the sun. Has any managerial reign ever endured such sharp emotional extremes? The only consolation for Real Madrid this morning is that their week from hell is behind them. It said much about the disorder at the Bernabeu that Barcelona could hardly get a word in edgeways, even while wrapping up their 29th La Liga title by beating visitors Madrid 2-0 last night. Barca put together a competent campaign, driven by players who were on the same page. That’s the long and short of it. And while it would be nice to spend time reflecting on their year, attention has to focus on Madrid, because that’s where all the action is. On Friday, midfielders Federico Valverde and Aurelien Tchouameni were fined more than £430,000 (nearly $600,000) by the club over the training-ground fight that left Valverde needing hospital treatment. It then emerged that Madrid were in active talks with Jose Mourinho, aimed at reappointing him as head coach and persuading him to take on the hospital pass of trying to sort out an insubordinate dressing room. Mourinho’s return is starting to feel like a fait accompli. Club president Florentino Perez favours him, Madrid are desperate for a figure of authority, and Mourinho’s ego must love the thought of climbing back into the big time. It won’t make the club any less box office, but it would put the squad on notice. A reading of the riot act at the Bernabeu is long overdue. FIFA will have visions of the entire planet stopping for the World Cup in June and July. And in fairness, it wasn’t so far off achieving that goal in 2022, when the final between Argentina and France reached 1.42 billion viewers (that is, according to FIFA’s own data). Currently, however, the governing body has no World Cup broadcast contract with China or India — meaning that with a month to go until the 2026 tournament begins, the two most populous nations on earth might not be able to watch any games. Potential rights buyers don’t like the cost, and don’t think the timezone factor will work for them (India will be in bed while most matches play out in North America). Something tells you that FIFA will take whatever it can get in the end — any deal is better than no deal, surely — but time is ticking fast. We asked some of our writers how they felt about the World Cup with matchday one exactly a month out, and this comment from Asli Pelit struck me most: “If I didn’t work in the industry, I genuinely would not know the United States is about to co-host the biggest sporting event in history.” Not what FIFA wants to hear. 🔥 DAIZEN MAEDA WITH AN OVERHEAD KICK! Celtic with a two-goal cushion over Rangers, and it comes in SPECTACULAR fashion ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/EZgSda8fYm — Sky Sports Scotland (@ScotlandSky) May 10, 2026 Selected games (kick-offs ET/UK time) Premier League: Tottenham Hotspur vs Leeds United, 3pm/8pm — USA Network/Sky Sports. Championship play-off semi-final second leg: Millwall (0) vs Hull City (0), 3pm/8pm — CBS, Paramount+, Fubo/Sky Sports. Serie A: Napoli vs Bologna, 2.45pm/7.45pm — Paramount+, Fubo, DAZN/DAZN. Here’s a debacle to wake you up on a Monday morning. It comes from Argentina’s third tier, where Talleres and Villa San Carlos were headed for a goalless draw in stoppage time — until Villa San Carlos shipped this stinker of an own goal, above. The goalkeeper takes the bulk of the blame after throwing the ball down to clear it without checking behind him, but the attempted clearances were an abomination, too. With quality like that, you’ll be stunned to learn that Villa San Carlos are placed 20th in their 22-team division. Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms