Barcelona manager Xavi Hernandez took advantage of the refereeing controversy during Real Madrid’s win over Almeria to point out that he felt the same criteria was not being consistently applied across La Liga. The next day a report would emerge that Xavi had been concerned about the refereeing from the very first meeting he had with them.
However not everyone sees things the same as him. One of the former referees who has regularly criticised Real Madrid for the pressure that they out on officials, Eduardo Iturralde Gonzalez, had a rather blunt response to his comments on Diario AS.
“His words are unfortunate, they come straight from the playbook of the best Jose Mourinho in history.”
“Personally, I would ask Xavi these questions. Are these the same referees as last year? Yes. Is it the same Referees Committee (CTA) as last year? Yes. Is it the same Real Madrid as last year? Yes. Is it the same Barcelona as last year? Yes. Well then how did you win La Liga last year?”
“Is it that the referees let you win last year, and this year no? Come on, I don’t see any conspiracies here, nor anything of the sort. Very unfortunate words.”
It seems that confidence is at a record low in the officiating in Spain, but that both Real Madrid and Barcelona fans are engrossed in a narrative of victimhood, propagated by Xavi in this case, but also official figures at both clubs. Meanwhile the rest of the league, and in particular Almeria here, find themselves sidelined from a discussion that they feel injures them most.