A painful blow to Madrid's narrative: the Valencia match referee's report exposes Real's "lies"

Controversy and a saga that will not end

Diaz de Mera's handling of Real Madrid's 1-0 win over Villarreal has triggered a wave of complaints inside the club and among its supporters. The issue? The sheer number of cards he aimed at Madrid's players and coaching staff compared with the fouls the team actually committed.

Real Madrid picked up five yellow cards and a red despite conceding only eight fouls. Villarreal gave away 13 and saw just two of their players booked.

Critics argue that gap raises questions about how the referee managed the game. His report tells a rather different story.

Vinicius Junior's red card for pulling Saliba's hair isn't a genuine source of dispute inside the Bernabeu. The decision fits the laws of the game, and club officials don't consider the dismissal a refereeing error.

Madrid's anger, then, is directed at the yellow cards rather than the sending off of their Brazilian star.

Here's what the report spells out: only two of the five yellows shown to Madrid players were for fouls, those going to Jude Bellingham and Ibrahima Konate.

Real Madrid intend to appeal the booking handed to the French defender, with television replays showing, according to the club's account, that his challenge on Gerard Moreno didn't merit a card.

The remaining three yellows had nothing to do with fouls. They came for disciplinary reasons.

Antonio Rudiger was cautioned for dissent. Kylian Mbappe and Aurelien Tchouameni both went into the book for time wasting.

Players weren't the only ones punished. Diaz de Mera also booked Jose Mourinho and team delegate Chendo for dissent, before the protests escalated and Mourinho's assistant Nuno da Costa was dismissed for objecting to the referee's calls.

So the cards that enraged Real Madrid aren't all tied to fouls on the pitch. Of the seven yellows shown to the club's players, coaching staff and administrative personnel, five came for dissent. The other two were for the challenges by Bellingham and Konate.

Nuno da Costa's red card? Dissent again. Vinicius' dismissal remains a separate case, and one the club doesn't dispute.