As a straight red card was issued to Angel Correa in Saturday’s derby, Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone argued that Real Madrid got preferential treatment from referees.
Simeone was enraged by referee Gil Manzano’s dismissal of Atletico Madrid forward Correa in the 64th minute for an elbow to the chest of defender Antonio Rudiger with the score 0-0.
“A contact is not a blow,” Simeone said after the game to DAZN. “Football is a physically demanding sport. If I’m not incorrect, Rudiger stands 1.94m tall, and if it had been such a terrible strike, he would have been sitting down, but he instantly gets up. “That may be a yellow [card], but removing a player for that would leave no players on the field.
“It’s the same narrative every time. It’s common, and it’s become normal [refereeing in favour of Madrid], and that’s not right. It’d be good if we could all compete in the same way.” Simeone thought his squad had been unfairly penalised against Real Madrid for the third time this season.
Atletico saw Stefan Savic sent off in a 3-1 extra-time loss to Real Madrid in the Copa del Rey quarterfinals on Jan. 26 and Mario Hermoso sent off in a 2-1 loss to Real Madrid in LaLiga on Sept. 18.
“They might have sent off [Madrid’s] Dani Ceballos in the Cup del Rey for a foul that was a red,” Simeone stated. “They viewed it that way today, Angel’s foul. You’ve all seen it, and there are some things that are quite clear.”
“It may go either way, sometimes in your favour, sometimes against you,” Simeone stated of the Video Assistance Referee (VAR).
“Unfortunately, it goes against us every time we come here [to the Bernabeu stadium].” Atletico Madrid also showed their displeasure via the club’s official Twitter account, which tweeted: “Nothing new at the Bernabeu.”
Despite the dismissal, Atletico moved ahead in the 78th minute through Jose Maria Gimenez before conceding an equaliser seven minutes later to Alvaro Rodriguez. “We have the impression we could have won the game,” Simeone stated. “We knew Madrid was dangerous at the conclusion of games.
“We survived Reinildo’s injury and Correa’s dismissal to take the lead. We might have defended better to avoid conceding the equaliser, but we must maintain our positive momentum.” Meanwhile, Simeone stated that Atletico Madrid defender Reinildo has sustained a significant knee injury that will keep him out for the rest of the season.
Meanwhile, Simeone stated that Atletico Madrid defender Reinildo has sustained a significant knee injury that will keep him out for the rest of the season. The Mozambique defender was stretchered off with a probable ruptured right ACL in the first half.
“It’s a severe injury,” Simeone stated. “We’ll have to wait and see what the doctor says following the hospital tests. It’s a shame. We extend him our best wishes. He will be able to play again in five or six months.” Real Madrid are now second in LaLiga, seven points behind Barcelona, who host Almeria on Sunday. “LaLiga has gotten more tough,” remarked Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti. “That was already before to this game, and it will be even more so after this game. We are going to battle till the end of the game.” Ancelotti, whose side rallied from 2-0 down to defeat Liverpool 5-2 in their midweek Champions League round of 16 first leg, confessed his squad weren’t at their sharpest. “We lacked a little bit of mental freshness, particularly when we were numerically dominant,” he said. One bright spot for Real Madrid was the goal scored by teenage attacker Alvaro Rodriguez on his first-team debut at the Santiago Bernabeu. “He is a teenager who is really eager to play for Real Madrid, and he has scored for the first time in the Bernabeu,” Ancelotti remarked