It wouldn’t be El Clasico without controversy, and there was certainly plenty of that during Sunday’s instalment of the historic fixture.
Marco Asensio thought he’d given Real Madrid the lead late on at the Camp Nou, but VAR overturned the decision after replayed showed the 27-year-old was fractionally offside from Dani Carvajal’s cross.
Carlo Ancelotti doubted the decision from the technology, and he wasn’t the only one to be annoyed at things “going against” Real Madrid. Real Madrid TV published a four-minute piece on the refereeing of Ricardo De Burgos Bengoetxea, in which they heavily criticised him for his “biasness”, as per Sport.
“Unfortunately, El Clasico had a name of its own: Ricardo De Burgos Bengoetxea, who together with his faithful squire in the VAR, Cesar Soto Grado, were responsible with their decisions to move Real Madrid away from any chance of fighting for the title.
“Nothing surprises us anymore from a referee who always harms Real Madrid with his mistakes. We already knew that. With De Burgos Bengoetxea, we would have to fight against twelve. His regrettable refereeing prevented Madrid’s victory at the Camp Nou. An incessant drip of errors, always in the same direction.”
The programme goes on to list several incidents in which they felt that De Burgos Bengoetxea got wrong against Real Madrid, who are now 12 points adrift in the La Liga title race. Efforts will likely shift towards salvaging the season with success in the Champions League and Copa del Rey.