Rodri says Real Madrid’s refereeing claims are ‘damaging to football’

Rodri Hernandez says Real Madrid’s criticism of refereeing after the Madrid derby is “damaging to football” and believes the club’s interest in signing him made his decision to join Barcelona more difficult.

The Barcelona midfielder was speaking after Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho criticised the appointment of referee Ortiz Arias and suggested there had been a desire to harm his side.

“I think this damages football. We should try to avoid this type of discourse, because football is bigger than that,” Rodri told Cadena COPE.

“We are human and we all make mistakes. Some days things go well and on other days they do not. Sometimes you are affected and sometimes you are not. I prefer to think about it in that way.”

Rodri accepted that clubs should defend their interests, but said there should be limits.

“It is good to defend your club and your position, and I have done that on some occasions, but there is a certain limit. On this point, I do not agree,” he added.

Real Madrid described their 2-1 defeat by Atletico Madrid in the seventh round of La Liga as a match featuring “catastrophic refereeing errors”. The club complained that Ortiz Arias failed to send off Cristian Romero and Kang In of Atletico Madrid.

Rodri believed Atletico deserved their victory after producing the better performance.

“From a footballing perspective, it was an even match, but I think Atletico Madrid were better,” he said. “They had more presence on the pitch, made better decisions and controlled the game. I believe they deserved to win.”

He acknowledged that some incidents could have been handled differently, including an incident involving Kang In.

“There were some situations that could have been dealt with in another way, and I think nobody denies that,” Rodri said. “Perhaps in the Kang In incident, which I do not believe was intentional, a red card could have been shown.”

Real Madrid interest

Rodri also discussed Real Madrid’s attempts to sign him during the summer transfer window, saying the club had been strongly interested from the outset.

“Real Madrid showed a great deal of interest in signing me from the very first moment. Their approach was perfect and their offers were aimed at completing the deal. I want to make that clear,” he said.

“I do not know what it means to go 100%, but it is clear that the interest was there. They did everything they could to show their desire, and I appreciate that because I spoke to some people there.”

Asked whether he had spoken to Real Madrid president Florentino Perez, Rodri replied: “I will keep that to myself. I spoke to people there and they conveyed their enthusiasm and desire for me to move to Real Madrid. That made my decision more difficult.”

Atletico Madrid won the derby 2-1, with Alex Grimaldo and Jonathan David scoring their goals. Antonio Rudiger scored for Real Madrid.

The result was Real Madrid’s second defeat of the season under Portuguese manager Mourinho, following their loss to Real Betis. Atletico moved to 16 points in second place, five behind leaders Barcelona, while Real Madrid remained third on 15 points.