Real Madrid TV hits back at Atletico Madrid in escalating derby row

Real Madrid’s official television channel has launched a four-minute response attacking Atletico Madrid’s criticism of refereeing decisions after the latest Madrid derby, accusing their neighbours of demanding respect for officials only when it suits them.

The video, reported by AS, was a direct riposte to an Atletico statement and to comments from manager Diego Simeone about the referee’s performance. It combined social media posts, club statements, photographs and archive footage to highlight previous occasions when Atletico players and officials had challenged refereeing decisions.

Real Madrid TV opened with the message: “Memories are short; they demand respect for referees, but only sometimes.”

The programme then revisited several past comments, including Simeone’s description of La Liga as being “dangerously rigged for Real Madrid”. It also quoted an earlier statement attributed to Enrique Cerezo or Gil Marin, which said: “Anyone watching from the outside can see that the same thing has been happening for a decade. That is how the system works, and we have got used to it.”

Addressing Atletico directly, the video added: “Now they are demanding respect, but if they do not like what they see, they immediately issue a statement.”

It followed that with images and footage from previous matches, accompanied by the words: “Respect did not seem to be so important here; you demand respect, but this is how you deal with referees during matches.”

The archive material included footage of Simeone patting an assistant referee on the head, as well as an incident in which he became involved in a heated discussion with a match official. It also showed former Atletico player Arda Turan throwing his boot towards an assistant referee.

The channel continued: “Statements that question refereeing decisions. You demand respect, but you publish posts when you do not like what is happening. Respect disappears when things go badly. If you benefit, you show respect; if you are harmed, it becomes different.”

Real Madrid TV also referred to a previous Atletico post on social media which said: “Retweet if you want the rules to be applied equally to everyone.”

The video concluded: “Memories are short. Now we cannot talk about referees, but they can. Now they are demanding respect, but only sometimes.”

It also referred to former referee Juan Manuel Gonzalez Manzano Diaz, known as Manzano, as “the one who was a coach” an apparent reference to his previous connection with the club before noting that he is now responsible for referee appointments.

The exchange is the latest development in tensions between the two clubs following the derby, after both sides criticised officiating decisions. Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho criticised the referee, while Simeone called on him to show greater respect towards match officials.

Fran Soto, president of the Spanish refereeing committee, has also urged managers to show respect to all La Liga referees.