Derby between Atlético and Real Madrid generates controversy due to arbitration and VAR decisions

A derby full of tension and controversy that took place this past Sunday at the Metropolitano, in which Atlético took the victory and Real Madrid claimed two red cards in the final stretch of the first half. After that, José Mourinho gave an explosive press conference in which he attacked the refereeing and against the appointment of Ortiz Arias for the match, to which the red and white club responded: "Stop Arbitration Harassment."

The first controversial play came in the 36th minute. Even with the score at 0-0, Bellingham went to the ground to dispute a ball with Cuti Romero, who ended up stepping on the Englishman's knee. The yellow card, however, went to the white team player, who responded with gestures of disbelief.

From the VAR, however, they corrected the field referee, Miguel Ángel Ortiz Arias. "I recommend a review so that you can assess a potential error... A confusion of identity," warned VAR referee Daniel Jesús Trujillo Suárez. "Ok. I'm going to cancel the yellow for the Madrid player and I'm going to give a yellow to the Atlético de Madrid player," the field referee concluded about the action after passing through the screen. However, the white team claims, as Mourinho indicated in a press conference, that this was a red card action for Cuti Romero.

A few minutes later, on the edge of half-time, the big controversy of the night arrived: Kang in Lee arrived late and stepped on Fede Valverde's left ankle, who got up very angry to complain to the referee. The entry of the South Korean footballer, however, was only sanctioned with a foul, since the referee did not consider any warning and there was no call from the VAR for the play to be reviewed despite the fact that the Real Madrid bench requested a red card. Furthermore, the speed with which Real Madrid took the free kick could have prevented the VOR room from having time to analyze the play in more detail.

Dean Huijsen's grab on Giuliano Simeone in the area that ended with a penalty and a red card – this after a VAR warning – does not generate much debate, but a play in which a possible penalty from Marc Pubill is claimed. A video recorded from the stands (and published in the afternoon by the television channels with rights) added fuel to the fire for the Real Madrid fans, who were very angry with the refereeing of the match.

The images, of which there was no repetition during the broadcast of the match on television, reveal a hand of the red-and-white player after a shot by Kylian Mbappé, in an action that took place just before the 40th minute of the match was reached and the red-and-white central defender already had a yellow card. Neither the referee nor the VAR stopped the match to review the action, and the white '10' did not complain about the action and continued playing, although Vinícius did.

Atlético's response

Atlético de Madrid responded emphatically to the complaints of José Mourinho, who in the press conference after the derby attacked Ortiz Arias and his appointment and claimed, showing a piece of paper, that Kang in and Cuti Romero should have been expelled.