Real Madrid boss Zidane “annoyed” by Barcelona’s Koeman’s comments on officiating

Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane has hit back at comments from his Barcelona counterpart Ronald Koeman regarding officiating, claiming that he is “annoyed” by the interference.

Madrid ran out 3-1 victors over Eibar in Sunday’s La Liga clash but the most controversial moment came with six minutes left on the clock when Los Blancos captain Sergio Ramos appeared to have the ball strike his arm in the penalty area.

Esto, en la mejor Liga del mundo, no es penalti. Resulta que es posición natural del brazo. Ni lo vio el árbitro ni lo quiso ver el VAR… pic.twitter.com/hSZx8bSuO2

— moisESPN (@moillorens) December 20, 2020

The incident proved to be decisive in terms of the result as the scoreline was poised at 2-1 at the time and the fallout has been at the forefront of Spanish football news in the time since.

Koeman used his pre-match conference ahead of his side’s game against Real Valladolid this midweek to critique the refereeing in the game at Ipurua, in which his side were not involved.

The Dutchman told reporters, as per El Mundo Deportivo: “I don’t understand. As I said that day against Madrid, I do not want to repeat it. 9 out of 10 people in Madrid would have called a penalty, but the referee did not.”

Those comments have riled Zidane, who insisted that he never wished to speak about officiating as they can make errors, just as players do.

Zidane told his pre-match press conference ahead of his side facing Granada, in quotes carried by Diario Sport: “It annoyed me, yes, because I never talk about the referees.

“Officials are part of the game and they also can make mistakes, just as the players do. I never become involved because it is complicated. There is nothing else to say apart from that we have an important game to focus on.”