Real Madrid players, their coach Carlo Ancelotti including the fans were stunned after a controversial penalty was awarded to Atletico in the city derby on Saturday.
Real Madrid went 1-0 down in the 35th minute of action as Julian Alvarez scored from the penalty spot.
However, the spot kick proved a controversial one as Aurelien Tchouameni had seemingly attempted to play the ball as it came across the box, and accidentally stepped on the foot of Samuel Lino. Lino went down, though, and after a VAR review, a penalty was awarded, leaving the home side’s players stunned and their fans raging.
What the fans said
@WolfRMFC said: “Atletico Madrid tweeted in support of the referees yesterday, today they get one of the most ridiculous penalty you will ever see in your life. If this league isn’t corrupt then I don’t know what is. My head is spinning man.”
@Bastiandotnet added: “Absolute perversion of the rules to give a penalty there. Just tuned in as well. The ball is already gone when the minimal (!) contact occurs, so there’s zero disadvantage for Atletico.”
@Ali_TBO said: “Okay so it’s not just English refs that are sh*t because how was that a penalty for Atletico?”
@Nabhuto added: “For the first time ever, Real Madrid have been done dirty by a referee lol. That’s NOT a penalty for Atletico Madrid man, the ball wasn’t even touched.”
@Viqforlan said: “That’s a funny penalty given to Atletico. Ball wasn’t even in contention and he ran into Tchouameni’s outstretched leg.”
@TheHasKarim observed: “Not a single Atletico player actually contested that for that penalty. That should tell you all that you need to know.”
@ViwePotelwa concluded: “If you want to see how far gone the game has gone, please go see the penalty awarded to Atletico. Absolutely ridiculous.”
Early this week, the current La Liga champions made an official complaint to the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) about the standard of officiating in La Liga, after they lost to Espanyol. The letter being sent appeared to stem from a challenge, which they described as “brutal”, on Kylian Mbappe.
Madrid next game will be against Manchester City in the Champions League in midweek and will hope to remain in contention to retain their European crown.
