In the first round of La Liga, Real Madrid faced Mallorca away from home, and the match ended in a 1-1 draw. After the game, Real Madrid TV strongly questioned the performance of the referees, believing that the main referee Soto Grado and the VAR assistant referee Iglesias Villanueva made at least eight obvious misjudgments during the match, which seriously affected the outcome of the game.
The following are the specific misjudgments pointed out by Real Madrid TV:
In the 5th minute of the opening: Samu Costa’s foul on Vinicius was not called, Costa kicked Vinicius’ leg with his studs, a yellow card should have been shown, but the referee did not even call a foul.
A few minutes later, Mbappe was pulled, Maffeo tripped him when Mbappe broke through into the Mallorca penalty area with the ball, Real Madrid believed this action should have resulted in a penalty kick.
In the 10th minute, Vinicius was criticized by the referee for seeking support from the fans, but Real Madrid TV believed that Vinicius’ behavior was not improper.
In the 24th minute: Maffeo fouled Vinicius again, but the referee ignored it.
In the 43rd minute: Maffeo stepped on Vinicius, the referee only showed a yellow card. Real Madrid TV believed this was a red card offense and called for VAR to review it.
In the 71st minute: Militao was pulled by Maffeo during a set-piece, affecting his shot, but the referee took no action.
Also, during the game, Valverde was stepped on by Samu Costa during a challenge, and the referee made no call.
Finally, in the 91st minute: Maffeo possibly handled the ball to block Rodrigo’s shot, this potential penalty opportunity was overlooked by the referee.
Real Madrid TV believes these misjudgments seriously harmed Real Madrid’s interests and calls for La Liga officials to strengthen supervision of refereeing quality. These controversial calls not only affected the fairness of the match but also cost Real Madrid 2 points.
