It seems that Bayern Munich and Atlético Madrid can agree on one thing: that Real Madrid are a bunch of whining crybabies. After benefitting from shady refereeing decisions throughout throughout their history, José Mourinho had the temerity to imply foul play a heated edition of the Madrid derby.
“The referee had no experience to officiate a derby,” said the whiner-in-chief (via Marca). “He’s 41 years old. He’s a poor referee who’s only ever done minor matches. Congratulations to the refereeing committee
for this appointment, but Mr. Trujillo [the VAR official] does have a history with Real Madrid. In the Cup, in Girona, Osasuna. He’s a VAR official with a lot of history. There’s no pressure in Las Rozas. Or is there?”
“If they let us compete on equal terms, we will. I don’t want to say this was rigged; I want to believe they’re wrong. That the Committee made a mistake in putting a 41-year-old in charge, and another with a history against Real Madrid.”
If you think this was just Mourinho being himself, think again. The club itself announced that no players would give interviews in the mixed zone, and allowed Real Madrid TV to air a statement vilifying the state of refereeing.
Now anyone with a passing familiarity with football will know that this is pure hypocrisy. Few clubs have benefitted from shady refereeing like Real Madrid have. FC Bayern fans know this better than anyone, after so many robberies in the UEFA Champions League.
Now Atlético, it seems, have had enough. The club issued a statement which really gets to the heart of the matter (via Marca):
“We were thinking of printing up pictures of all the refereeing mistakes that Real Madrid have benefited from but we would run out of forests. It can’t be done for environmental purposes.”
“They want to play the derby return leg now,” the club told Marca. “With intimidated referees and mistakes in their favor.”
“There are red lines that cannot be crossed, and they’ve done it again. You can’t be disrespectful. The integrity of Spanish football is in danger. Either we stop them now or there will be no turning back.”
Will Madrid face any consequences for their behavior? Unlikely. Their tendrils run deep, whether it’s in La Liga or Europe. However it is cathartic to see a large club publicly call them out. In the meantime, Madrid demonstrate that when treated like everyone else, they lack class and spit in the face of sportsmanship. Clubs complain about refereeing all the time, but no one has this kind of public crash out except the one institution that thinks it’s too special to be treated right.
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