On Saturday, Real Madrid lost for the first time in La Liga since early December as they fell to a 1-0 defeat at relegation-battling Espanyol. However, the league leaders did feel hard done by with the manner of the result, as they believe that matchwinner Carlos Romero should not have been on the pitch to score his late goal.
Earlier in the second half, Romero was shown a yellow card for a wild challenge on Kylian Mbappe. VAR opted not to intervene with the on-field decision of Alejandro Muniz Ruiz, much to the fury of those associated with Real Madrid.
Es una locura que ni el árbitro ni el VAR sancionen este entradón a Mbappé con tarjeta roja.
Romero le clava los tacos en el gemelo a Kylian en una acción temeraria y debió ser expulsado.
Una más.pic.twitter.com/uDcdDZpp7E
— Helena 🇮🇨 (@HdeHelena_RM) February 1, 2025
Carlo Ancelotti was one of those that could not believe that Romero was not dismissed, as he addressed the matter during his post-match press conference (via Diario AS).
“The decision that has been taken is inexplicable, by both the referee and VAR. Because we have all seen what has happened. The most important thing is to watch and protect the player. It was a clear foul, a very ugly tackle, with risk and, fortunately it didn’t happen, but there was a risk of injury. VAR is also there for this. It seems inexplicable to us that red was not shown.”
Ancelotti, who confirmed that the injury suffered by Antonio Rudiger in the first half is a muscular one, also gave his assessment on the match itself.
“It has been difficult, complicated. We did some things well, we had control, especially in the second half, such as chances: a goal disallowed, we hit the post, we shot 20 times on goal… The game was quite controlled, but Espanyol played very well in transition, defending well, they caught us on the break and scored. It was the game they wanted to play.”
It was certainly a frustrating evening for Real Madrid, and it makes next weekend’s Madrid derby at the Santiago Bernabeu all the more crucial – as Atletico Madrid won earlier on Saturday, the two teams are only separated by a point.
While it is be valid that Romero should have been shown the red card (Espanyol were making dangerous tackles quite often), it deflects from the key issue that Real Madrid went there to simply collect 3 points – not to play the game. The lack of focus and sharpness gradually turned to frustration and then they just kept repeating the same tactics that didn’t work all game.
For most of the game I watched it looked like Vasquez was playing right wing, Rodrygo was behind him in right midfield and Fede was covering the RB gaps. With Touchameni still plodding around, haven’t we seen this story from Ancelotti before? I cannot believe this stubbornness from the man.. especially when the squad no longer has a midfield controlling brain. Equally inexplicable is the board not sanctioning buying cover for all defensive positions in the Jan transfer window. “we don’t want to upset the settled squad…” – yeah the half squad. (Not even 6 month loan deals? ). There needs to be some sackings higher up because planning is going terribly right now. Barca chopped and changed their way to a great defence (and team) with no money.