Name Barcelona Atletico Madrid! Marca: Real Madrid criticized the referee for being treated differently

Football     4:57am, 26 September 2025

According to Marca, Real Madrid continues to accuse it of being treated unfairly by referees and once again aims at the double standards of red card penalty, especially compared with Barcelona and Atletico Madrid.

Real Madrid pointed out that since the 21st century, Barcelona's net red card profit in the league (the opponent was sent off vs. the self-sentiment) is +62, while Real Madrid has -2. This data is their argument for analyzing the specific controversial penalty this season.

Real Madrid's official TV station released a video in which the narrator said: "In these six rounds of the league, a Real Madrid player was unfairly sent off, and a Barcelona player escaped red cards twice, and the most recent case was that Cork's violation was ignored in Atletico Madrid's game against Vallecano." The "injustice" red card mentioned in the video refers to Heysen's experience at Arnoetta Stadium (versus Real Sociedad). Real Madrid TV said that referee Hill Manzano directly showed the red card, and VAR did not intervene, although Heysen was not the last defensive player and that was not an obvious goal opportunity. The video also claimed that the Technical Committee of the Referees (CTA) itself admitted that this was a mistake.

Meanwhile, Real Madrid TV accused Barcelona player Rafinia of escaping red cards twice. The first time was his very fierce foul on the Mallorca player, and VAR did not intervene. The second time was last weekend when he pushed the Getafe player without the ball being played, but he did not receive the second yellow card he should have shown.

Two days before the Madrid derby, Real Madrid TV also focused on comparing similar fouls by Cork and Vinicius. In Atletico Madrid's match against Vallecano, Cork grabbed the opponent's goalkeeper's neck with his hands and threw him down, but he was not shown a red card and VAR did not intervene.

Real Madrid TV said that this is completely different from the penalty Vinicius received for "similar actions" at Mestalia last season. At the time, VAR stepped in, but was accused of providing a "biased picture" because it did not show the shot of the opposing goalkeeper provoking Vinicius. Vinicius was eventually sent off, and Real Madrid emphasized that the bias in VAR images was "also confirmed by a judge."

source:cm 7n