In favour of Atletico: glaring refereeing blunders rock the Madrid derby

Sunday evening's Madrid derby between Atletico and Real, in the seventh round of La Liga, threw up a series of controversial refereeing calls.

Atletico won a second-half penalty and saw Real defender Dean Huijsen sent off.

Real had their own grievances. In the first half, their players demanded a red for Cuti Romero after a heavy challenge on Jude Bellingham, and again for Kang-in Lee's tackle on Fede Valverde's ankle.

The website "Archivo VAR", which specialises in controversial refereeing incidents, judged Huijsen's dismissal correct.

It continued: "Huijsen, without any contest for the ball, held Julian and brought him down inside the penalty area. It is a straight red card."

According to the site, the on-field referee upgraded the yellow to red after reviewing the play on the pitchside monitor.

On the decision not to dismiss Cuti Romero, the Archivo VAR account was scathing: "The video assistant referee turns the Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid match into a circus."

It pointed out: "Cuti Romero played the ball, and then struck Bellingham's knee with the upper part of his leg. It is a yellow card."

One question lingered, it stressed: "did the video assistant referee consider that there was confusion over the identity of the player?"

Kang-in Lee's challenge drew the fiercest criticism. Archivo VAR said: "A gross error by the video assistant referee at the Metropolitano stadium. Kang-in Lee planted the studs of his boot into Valverde's ankle, causing it to twist, without having any chance of playing the ball."

It explained: "A clear straight red card. Referee Ortiz Arias did not even show the yellow card, while Trujillo Suarez ignored the incident and did not intervene."