The aftermath of Real Madrid’s 4–1 victory over Sevilla continued on Tuesday, with the visitors submitting a formal complaint about the television coverage and disputing the explanations they received from the referees’ committee. Elsewhere, Madrid are seeking contributions from the Super League’s six English founding clubs toward the project’s costs, while comments from Real Madrid TV and Joan Laporta have added to the discussion ahead of Sunday’s Clásico.
Madrid seek Super League contributions from six English clubs
Real Madrid want Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool,
Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur to contribute toward the costs of establishing the European Super League, despite their withdrawal shortly after its announcement in April 2021. The story was initially reported by The Athletic, and Madrid subsequently confirmed to Reuters that they were seeking payments from the six clubs.
According to The Athletic’s reporting, one source puts the project’s total initial costs at up to €80 million. That figure concerns the overall expenditure—not an established debt of €80 million owed by the English clubs or a sum already awarded to Madrid. Madrid, Barcelona and Juventus have so far covered the costs, with Madrid maintaining that the other founding shareholders retain financial obligations.
The potential dispute centres on the shareholders’ agreement signed by the founding clubs. The question is whether their commitment to jointly own and manage the Super League company also required them to contribute to its financing. The report notes that the project documents made public so far do not explicitly set out that cost-sharing obligation.
There were 12 founding clubs. Nine—the six English teams, Atlético Madrid, AC Milan and Inter—announced their withdrawals within days of the launch. Juventus subsequently left the project, followed by Barcelona in February 2026.
A Madrid source cited in the reporting also distinguished between the club and the company behind the proposed competition: any contributions owed would be payable to the European Super League Company, rather than directly to Real Madrid. The issue could require court proceedings if the parties cannot reach an agreement; the report does not establish that liability has already been determined.
The development comes alongside reports that former A22 chief executive Bernd Reichart is preparing to join Madrid in a business-operations role once his responsibilities with the Super League promoter have concluded.
Sevilla submit formal complaint over Bernabéu television coverage
Sevilla have submitted a formal complaint to LaLiga’s Competitions Department concerning the audiovisual production of Sunday’s match at the Bernabéu. In a statement signed by president José María del Nido Carrasco, the club expressed its dissatisfaction with the coverage of several disputed incidents and requested access to the underlying footage and production protocols.
The complaint identifies four incidents: Marc Cucurella’s challenge on Peque, the Arda Güler–Peque incident, Ibrahima Konaté’s contact with Robbie Ure before Madrid’s second goal, and the penalty awarded to Kylian Mbappé. Sevilla allege that the first three received insufficient replays or analysis, while the penalty in Madrid’s favour was shown repeatedly from multiple angles.
The club also objected to explanations given by LaLiga production and editorial head Sergio Carranza Lezcano on COPE. Sevilla challenged the use of factors such as player protests, the referee’s initial decision, live-broadcast demands and a director’s judgment in determining how incidents are presented.
“LaLiga must make public the protocols and discretionary powers that govern audiovisual production,” Sevilla stated.
Sevilla further alleged that the Cucurella, Güler and Konaté incidents were intentionally excluded from the official highlights despite footage subsequently appearing through other broadcasters. That allegation forms part of the club’s complaint, rather than an independently established finding about the production team’s intentions.
Among its requests, Sevilla called for the complete original recordings of the four incidents, documentation of the camera deployment and any blind spots, and identification of those responsible for editorial decisions. The club also requested preservation of the recordings and technical records in case of legal proceedings, alongside an investigation and corrective measures to ensure consistent treatment of all teams.
Sevilla dispute the CTA’s explanations after meeting in Madrid
The broadcasting complaint followed a meeting between Del Nido Carrasco and the Technical Committee of Referees (CTA) at Las Rozas. Accounts of that meeting, attributed to Sevilla sources, describe disagreement over both the on-field decisions and the circumstances in which VAR should have intervened.
Güler’s action against Peque
According to those accounts, the CTA told Sevilla that the available images did not allow the VAR officials to establish the intensity of Güler’s action sufficiently to recommend a review. Sevilla rejected that explanation, arguing that the intent to strike was itself grounds for a dismissal and disputing the assessment of the contact.
The distinction is between footage showing an incident and footage the officials considered sufficient to assess it. The reported explanation was not that no images of the encounter existed, but that the available views did not resolve the question the VAR team was evaluating.
Konaté’s contact with Ure
Sevilla sources say the CTA accepted that Konaté committed a foul on Ure before Madrid’s second goal and described the failure to award it as an on-field error. However, the committee reportedly defended VAR’s non-intervention on the basis that Ure would not have reached the pass and that a new phase of play followed.
Sevilla disagreed with that separation of the sequence, maintaining that the move leading to the goal originated in the foul. The reported acknowledgment therefore concerned the missed on-field offence, not agreement with Sevilla that VAR should necessarily have disallowed the goal.
The two penalty incidents
On Cucurella’s challenge against Peque, the CTA reportedly considered the incident insufficiently clear for VAR to overturn the referee’s decision not to award a penalty. Sevilla were also told that, had a penalty been given on the field, the VAR team would not have reversed it.
For the penalty awarded to Mbappé following Andrés Castrín’s challenge, the committee reportedly supported the on-field decision because it considered the contact sufficient. Sevilla again disputed the consistency of the judgments being applied.
The club’s statement summarized the meeting as a respectful exchange with “clearly divergent points of view.” Sevilla also used its social channels to criticize the handling of the controversy, accompanying its message with an image of referee Adrián Cordero Vega holding a finger to his lips.
Additional footage shows Konaté–Ure contact before Mbappé’s goal
Movistar Plus+’s El Día Después has released another angle of the contact between Konaté and Ure during the move that ended with Mbappé scoring. The pitchside recording offers a different view from the more distant angle used during the live coverage, showing Konaté interrupting the Sevilla forward’s run.
Movistar identified the footage as coming from a camera assigned to the programme rather than one included in the live broadcast. Its analysts considered the contact a foul. The later publication of that angle adds to the discussion, although it does not, by itself, establish which images were available to the VAR officials when they assessed the incident.
Real Madrid TV criticizes Barcelona’s appeals for a VAR review
Real Madrid TV has criticized Barcelona’s players after the release of RefCam footage from their match against Betis. The sequence showed players asking referee Ricardo de Burgos Bengoetxea to review a possible handball during the move that led to Giovani Lo Celso’s subsequently disallowed goal.
The channel argued that the exchange illustrated excessive influence over the review process, framing its criticism around the upcoming Clásico.
“Real Madrid will have to face 17 referees in El Clásico: the three on-field officials, the fourth official, the VAR and its assistant, plus the eleven Barcelona players, who are also referees. Against 17 referees, it’s very difficult. Now the Barça players decide which plays are reviewed by VAR and which aren’t, because they are also referees. Now they officiate the matches. It’s scandalous. In any other league, this would have consequences. Sunday’s match is very complicated due to the issues we all know about.”
RMTV also addressed the discussion surrounding Güler’s incident with Peque, accusing other media outlets of applying inconsistent standards to complaints about television coverage.
“Against everything and everyone. Against a regime and a media system where those who control the narrative only talk about a questionable play by Güler on Peque, when the player was being repeatedly grabbed. Now they say there’s a lack of footage, when at RMTV we’ve been denouncing for years that there are shots that aren’t shown in the broadcasts, and they called us conspiracy theorists. All it takes is one questionable play for everything to change.”
Laporta: “We’ll talk about Madrid starting tomorrow”
Joan Laporta has indicated that he intends to address Real Madrid after Barcelona’s Champions League meeting with Paris Saint-Germain. Speaking to reporters before the directors’ lunch in Paris, the Barcelona president declined to discuss the Bernabéu controversies in detail but made clear that the subject remained on his agenda.
“We’ll talk about Madrid starting tomorrow, because there’s a lot to unpack,” Laporta said.
His remarks followed an interview published by L’Équipe on Monday in which he described the deterioration of relations between the clubs and rejected Madrid’s position on the Negreira case.
“There is no longer a relationship; I would even say there is a confrontation. They want to divert attention with the ‘Negreira case,’ but there’s nothing to it. They have lost all credibility. I think they made a mistake and are paying the price.”
Asked whether the PSG match carried greater importance than the Clásico, Laporta emphasized Barcelona’s immediate assignment.
“The most important one is the most immediate. Today’s match is the best you can play in Europe, with the two most in-form teams in Europe, the two playing the best football. They are two teams that prioritize the group over individual players, with very talented players and two great coaches behind them.”
He also expressed confidence that Hansi Flick would manage the defensive absences of Eric García and Jules Koundé.
“These things happen. We won’t have Eric García or Koundé, but I know Flick will find solutions so it won’t be noticeable. They are two players who are always there and always play. But these things happen and there are no excuses.”
River Plate and Madrid continue institutional dialogue
River Plate’s international ambassador Matías Patanian has met Florentino Pérez in Madrid, continuing the institutional contact between the clubs. The meeting included discussion of their sporting and organizational affairs, with Patanian presenting Pérez with a River shirt.
The relationship has a longstanding connection through Alfredo Di Stéfano, who developed at River before becoming one of Madrid’s defining players. More recently, Franco Mastantuono’s move from Buenos Aires to Madrid provided another link between the clubs.
River’s academy ranked third in the CIES Football Observatory’s 2025 training-club index, behind Benfica and Barcelona. The study identified 97 River-trained players across the 49 leagues examined, with the ranking also accounting for the level at which those players competed and their playing time.
The Argentine club is also pursuing the expansion and roofing of the Monumental, with a planned capacity of 101,000 spectators. Those plans form part of its wider infrastructure development, alongside the continued international relationships represented by the meeting in Madrid.
Video: Dumfries’ rondo moment gets Vinícius and Mbappé laughing
There was a lighter moment in Madrid’s preparations for Leipzig when Ferland Mendy nutmegged Denzel Dumfries during a rondo. Vinícius Júnior and Mbappé were among the players laughing at the sequence as the squad worked ahead of Wednesday’s Champions League match.
Loan watch: Mastantuono stands out against Como
Franco Mastantuono’s performance against Como offered an encouraging individual display despite Fiorentina’s 3–1 home defeat. The Madrid loanee was repeatedly involved in the hosts’ attacking play, with Olé identifying him as Fiorentina’s standout performer during the match.
The compilation below brings together his involvement in the game as he continues his season in Italy.
Managing Madrid Podcast: Breaking down the Sevilla victory
Kiyan Sobhani and Mehedi Hassan analyze Real Madrid’s 4–1 win over Sevilla on the latest episode of the Managing Madrid Podcast, focusing on Mourinho’s starting lineup and why it offered more solutions against pressure.
The discussion covers Arda Güler’s role in the double pivot, Fede Valverde at right-back, Yan Diomande’s influence and Endrick’s performance. Kiyan and Mehedi also examine whether this configuration better suits Mbappé, before assessing Mourinho’s post-match comments and the implications for the fixtures ahead:
