He lost his temper: shocking rating for the referee of the Real Madrid and Valencia clash
A failing grade for referee Hernández Maceda
Referee Hernández Maceo took charge of the match between Real Madrid and their hosts Valencia, which ended in a 3-0 win for the Royal side, in the 12th round of La Liga.
The website "Archivo VAR", which specialises in controversial refereeing incidents, handed Hernández Maceo a rating of 4 out of 10.
Archivo VAR explained: "Hernández Maceo received a failing grade for his handling of the Valencia versus Real Madrid match, which, as expected, rolled over him like a huge truck."
Hernández Maceo does not belong among the referees who handle highly tense matches well. His selection by the Technical Committee of Referees seems odd, then, and he may rank among the least suited officials for a game of this kind.
That is exactly how it played out. The referee lost his nerve during the first half, overlooked a clear yellow card for Valencia's Mavio, and let the challenges escalate in intensity as the match wore on.
He failed to set clear limits for the players, and it cost him dearly in the second half. The tension sparked several mass confrontations that never boiled over into anything more serious, but he was forced to deal with them by showing yellow cards.
Three controversial refereeing incidents cropped up across the match. The referee got two of them right, and his call on the third was partly correct, which spared him a catastrophically failing grade.
His decision was correct when he judged Gudo's challenge on Diomande not to warrant a direct red card, although the incident at least deserved a foul. Here he made a minor error.
After that, the referee settled for a yellow card to Mavio for his challenge on Mbappé, a reckless push at the edge of the penalty area.
The incident did not warrant a red card. There was no control of the ball, and therefore no clear goal-scoring opportunity.
The second half told a different story. Gayà brought down Kylian Mbappé, who was through on goal one on one, with the Valencia man the last defender.
