The Madrid derby between Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid featured rough tackles and protests from the first half.
There was also a scene in which Jude Bellingham’s booking was overturned after a VAR review, while Cristian Romero was shown a yellow card.
The core of the dispute was not one refereeing decision, but the fact that the official ruling and a former referee’s assessment diverged over dangerous contact.
3-Line Summary
1. Controversy over tackle decisions continued throughout the first half of the derby
2. Bellingham’s booking was overturned after VAR
3. The expert assessment differed from the official ruling
Baena and Güler’s Clash That Continued From 5 Minutes
The derby between Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid in Round 7 of Spain’s professional La Liga became heated from the start. According to a Goal.com report, former Spanish referee Iturralde González assessed Atlético midfielder Álex Baena’s tackle from behind on Real Madrid’s Arda Güler at 5 minutes as worthy of a yellow card.
After Güler reacted to Baena’s contact by indicating that a card was needed, Atlético manager Diego Simeone protested and received a booking. At 18 minutes, there was another controversy between the two players, but the referee showed neither of them a card. Iturralde also considered Baena’s use of his knee more dangerous in this incident. This was commentary from a former referee; the official ruling on the incident was no card.
Bellingham’s Booking Changed After the VAR Review
At 35 minutes, Atlético’s Pobel received a yellow card after stopping Kylian Mbappé’s counterattack. 1 minute later, Real Madrid midfielder Jude Bellingham and Atlético defender Cristian Romero collided, and referee Ortiz Arias initially showed Bellingham a booking.
Following a request for a review from VAR referee Trujillo Suárez, the referee canceled Bellingham’s booking and gave Romero a yellow card. Iturralde argued that Romero should have been sent off because he made contact while planting his foot firmly, but the actual ruling was a yellow card. The view that Romero should have been sent off was Iturralde’s assessment, not the official decision.
Later, there was no ruling on a scene in which Lee Kang-in made contact from behind with Real Madrid midfielder Federico Valverde. Iturralde criticized this incident as one that could also have constituted a dangerous tackle. The impression from the first half was not simply that there had been many protests. Amid a series of similarly rough contacts, the larger issue became whether the standards for cards and VAR had been applied consistently.
Real’s Transition Attacks, Which Simeone Had Warned About Before the Match
Before the match, Simeone said that Real Madrid were strong at launching transition attacks using Mbappé and Vinícius immediately after winning the ball back. He said that avoiding losing possession was important in order to stop their threat.
Simeone also mentioned that this was his first derby against Real Madrid manager José Mourinho since the Copa del Rey final in May 2013. Atlético won that final 2-1. Although Simeone said he held Mourinho in high regard, he emphasized that the rivalry between the two teams had come alive again in recent years. The first-half refereeing incidents showed how significantly that tension could be amplified within the flow of the match.
References
Tags #RealMadrid #AtléticoMadrid #MadridDerby #LaLiga #RefereeingDecisions #VAR #JudeBellingham #CristianRomero #KylianMbappé #LeeKangin #DiegoSimeone #JoséMourinho