Real Madrid condemn ‘disastrous’ refereeing after Atletico Madrid derby defeat

Real Madrid have launched a strong attack on the officials after losing the derby to Atletico Madrid at the Metropolitano, describing several decisions by referee Ortiz Arias as “disastrous”.

The club issued a statement after the match in which it claimed Ortiz Arias’ decisions had directly influenced the outcome. Real Madrid said the referee failed to send off Cuti Romero and Kang-in Lee during the first half before later awarding Atletico Madrid a penalty in the second period.

“Real Madrid lost a match marked by the decisions of Ortiz Arias, who overlooked the dismissals of Romero and Kang-in Lee in the first half,” the club said.

In a longer statement, Real Madrid said: “Real Madrid lost a derby at the Metropolitano marked by disastrous refereeing decisions from Ortiz Arias, who did not send off Cuti Romero in the first half for stamping on Bellingham’s knee, despite reviewing the incident on the VAR monitor, nor Kang-in Lee for stamping on the left ankle of Valverde.

“Both decisions were decisive, and the match was ultimately settled in Atletico Madrid’s favour in the second half.”

The first incident highlighted by Real Madrid came in the 35th minute, when Jude Bellingham challenged Romero for the ball. The club said Bellingham reached it first before the Atletico Madrid defender caught him with his left foot.

Ortiz Arias initially showed Bellingham a yellow card, but VAR official Trujillo Suarez advised him to review the incident on the pitchside monitor. After watching the replay, the referee overturned the card shown to Bellingham and instead booked the Atletico Madrid defender rather than dismissing him.

Real Madrid object to second challenge

The club also criticised the officials over a challenge involving Kang-in Lee and Federico Valverde nine minutes later.

“After nine minutes, the referee made a second serious error by failing to punish Kang-in Lee for his challenge on Valverde, after he caught his left ankle with his foot,” Real Madrid said.

“Ortiz Arias was following the play closely, but he did not show the Atletico player a red card, or even a yellow card. On this occasion, Trujillo Suarez did not alert him.”

Real Madrid then compared those incidents with the decision that led to Atletico Madrid’s penalty in the 50th minute.

Ortiz Arias awarded the spot-kick after a foul by Dean Huijsen on Giuliano Simeone and showed the Real Madrid player a yellow card. Following an intervention from Trujillo Suarez, the referee reviewed the incident on the VAR monitor and changed his decision, sending off Huijsen instead.

The club’s statement therefore contrasted the Huijsen decision with the earlier challenges involving Romero and Kang-in Lee, which it argued should also have resulted in red cards.