Following the defeat to Atletico: Real Madrid issue a fiery statement against the officiating
"Catastrophic officiating"
Real Madrid launched a scathing attack on the refereeing team that oversaw the derby against Atletico Madrid, insisting that the side was subjected to refereeing decisions it described as "catastrophic", during the match that brought the two together at the Metropolitano Stadium.
The club issued an official statement after the match, taking aim at referee Ortiz Arias and arguing that his decisions had a direct impact on a game that ended in defeat for Los Blancos.
"Real Madrid lost a match characterised by the decisions of Ortiz Arias, who in the first half overlooked sending off Romero and Kang-in Lee," the statement began.
It went on: "Real Madrid lost a derby at the Metropolitano Stadium marred by catastrophic refereeing decisions from Ortiz Arias, who did not send off Cuti Romero in the first half for stamping on Bellingham's knee, despite the incident being reviewed on the video technology screen, nor Kang-in Lee for stamping on Valverde's left ankle. The two decisions were decisive, and the match was ultimately settled in the second half in Atletico Madrid's favour."
The first incident to anger the club came in the 35th minute, when Jude Bellingham came together with Cuti Romero. "In the 35th minute, during a 50-50 ball, Bellingham reached the ball before Cuti Romero, so the Atletico defender fouled him with his left foot," the club explained.
The statement continued: "Ortiz Arias initially showed a yellow card to our player, but Trujillo Suarez called him over to review the incident on the video technology screen. After watching it, he cancelled the card that had been given to Bellingham, and showed the yellow card to the Atletico defender instead of sending him off."
Valverde incident angers Real Madrid
Real Madrid also criticised the referee's decision in another incident a few minutes later, this time over Kang-in Lee's challenge on Fede Valverde.
"Nine minutes later, the referee made a second glaring error, as he did not punish Kang-in Lee for his challenge on Valverde, after he fouled his left ankle with his foot," the club said.
It added: "Ortiz Arias was following the play closely, but he did not show the red card, or even the yellow card, to the Atletico player, and in this case, Trujillo Suarez did not alert him."
Real Madrid compares the refereeing situations
The statement concluded by pointing to the referee's decision in the 50th minute, when he awarded a penalty to Atletico Madrid following a challenge by Dean Huijsen on Giuliano Simeone.
"In the 50th minute, the referee Ortiz Arias awarded a penalty following a foul committed by Huijsen against Giuliano, and showed the yellow card to the Real Madrid player," Real Madrid said.
It added: "After being alerted by Trujillo Suarez, the referee reviewed the incident on the video technology screen, and this time decided to send off Huijsen."
