It’s a Saturday night bill in Spain. On Matchday 27 of La Liga, Real Madrid traveled to the Estadio Mestalla to challenge Valencia. Installed in the first half of the table despite a checkered journey since the start of this 2023-2024 edition, Che intends to reconnect with the club once and for all in Europe. To do this, it was imperative to play a nasty trick on his Madrid counterpart, who held the top spot in the rankings despite poor performances in recent weeks. After leading by two goals to nil after goals from Hugo Duro and Roman Yaremchuk, Real Madrid turned things around thanks to a double from Vinicius to secure a draw (2-2). But one action did not end producing ink in Spain.
As the final whistle approached, the Merengues looked to seize one last chance to snatch victory. On the counter led by Modric and Vinicius, Jude Bellingham got a great corner after a deflected cross. In the 90th + 8th minute, a corner was taken by Modric but cleared by the Valencia defence. Brahim Diaz collected the ball wide, took it to the opposite corner post after a solo dribbling sequence and unleashed a cross into the box. Bellingham headed the ball perfectly to deceive the Valencia goalkeeper. But the match referee, Jesus Gil Manzano, decided to whistle the end of the match during Diaz’s cross, in the middle of decisive action for Real Madrid. The final confused seconds turned into mini scuffles and viral complaints around the refereeing body, which also resulted in Judd Bellingham’s red card.
A scandal for Real Madrid!
While Vinicius and Aurelien Choumaeni sent very spicy tweets on their respective X accounts, the Italian coach, Carlo Ancelotti, analyzed this last action, still shocked by this arbitration decision: “This is something that has never happened to me in my career. Bellingham doesn’t understand the red card and he didn’t commit any offence, we will look at the referee’s report.”, announced the strategy at a press conference. The French midfielder tweeted: “It’s a shame”, while the Brazilian simply contented himself with a sarcastically crying smiley emoji. In Real Madrid TV broadcasts, Madrid journalists put their hands on their heads, shouting expressions such as “It’s a flight”, “Shame on you”, “This is unheard of”. Alfonso Pérez Burul, a former Spanish referee, however agrees with his colleague: “The referee blows the whistle correctly. This reduction is for both attacking and defending Brahim. He takes the ball and his cross suits another game. At that moment, it underlines it properly.He analyzed radio brands.
On the Valencia side, key players including coach Ruben Baraja decided to take action in a press conference: “I saw it clearly, I saw how the referee blew the whistle before crossing. He also gave 5 minutes in the first half and Madrid scored against us in stoppage time. The referee decided accordingly and nothing more to say.. While young midfielder, Javi Guerra said: “From the bench, I saw the referee raise his hand. I think it was the same play at the end of the first half, when the rebound fell on Sergi Canos inside the box and he blew the whistle.”. Arbitration has not finished attracting fury in Spain!
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