Real Madrid makes a strong public complaint to La Liga about the terrible incidents in the Madrid derby.
Real Madrid has publicly complained to La Liga after losing 2-1 to Atletico Madrid at the Wanda Metropolitano. Atletico took control in the second half with goals from Alejandro Grimaldo and Jonathan David, while Antonio Rudiger scored late to make it 2-1.
Real played most of the second half with 10 players after Dean Huijsen was sent off. There was also debate over the referee’s decision not to give Atletico’s Lee Kang-in a red card for a high tackle on Federico Valverde. Unsurprisingly, both Real Madrid and their coach, Jose Mourinho, were unhappy with the decisions.
In their official match report, Real criticized the refereeing of Miguel Angel Ortiz Arias, calling it ‘abysmal.’ They said he should have sent off Cuti Romero for stepping on Jude Bellingham’s knee and Lee Kang-in for the tackle on Valverde. Real believes these calls changed the game’s outcome in Atletico’s favor. Their Twitter post said: “A terrible refereeing decision decides the derby.”
Romero was given a yellow card after the VAR review, despite his history of six red cards during his time at Tottenham Hotspur. Lee was not booked.
Huijsen was first shown a yellow card for stopping a clear goal chance, but after VAR checked, the referee decided the foul happened outside the box. This changed Huijsen’s yellow to a straight red, and a free kick was given to Atletico.
Mourinho showed photos of the tackles during his post-match press conference, pointing to the referee’s mistakes. He criticized Ortiz for poor decisions this season and questioned why an inexperienced referee was chosen for such a big match. Mourinho said he believes the errors were honest mistakes, not something planned against Real.
Real Madrid TV also decided not to talk about the game itself, focusing instead on the referee’s performance and accusing La Liga of bias against Real Madrid.
When asked about Mourinho’s comments, Atletico’s coach Diego Simeone responded: “Sometimes things go your way and sometimes they don’t. You must respect the referees. Not everything you say is right, no matter how famous you are, like Mourinho is.”