Nine points lost via unawarded penalties for Real Madrid
By Hasan Karim
This season has been a tough one for Real Madrid fans. Despite a promising showing in the preseason Super Cups against FC Barcelona and Manchester United, the team has faltered. Real has not performed to the standard seen last season when they lifted a La Liga and UEFA Champions League double.
However, the team has also been victim to some particularly bad officiating. Upon analyzing those incidents, Real Madrid has lost a total of 9 points via these rather controversial moments. We take a look at those moments below:
1. Parejo on Benzema:
This all began at the end of August when Valencia visited the Bernabéu. During a sequence of play in the game, Los Che midfielder, Dani Parjeo, grabbed striker Karim Benzema’s shirt in the box.
Subsequently, the striker fell from being pulled down by Parejo. The official in charge of the game, Fernandez Borbalan, decided not to call for what was a clear penalty. Madrid dropped two points in the home draw against Valencia.
2. Chema fouls Theo Hernandez in the box:
The next officiating error came on matchday 3 against Levante. Madrid was the home side in the game which saw Levante defender, Chema, hack down Theo Hernandez clearly in the box.
Following a cut back from Theo – Chema stuck his leg out and tripped the fullback. The referee for the game, Hernandez Hernandez, decided against the Madrid pleas for a penalty.
Once again, Madrid dropped 2 points at home. Despite a poor performance, the referee issues clearly came into effect once again.
3,4 and 5: Real Betis:
The home match against Real Betis was certainly one of the poorest showings in terms of officiating. Mateu Lahoz denied 3 very controversial incidents throughout the game.
It began with Javi Garcia catching Marcelo on the ankle clean in the box, the claim was dismissed by the referee despite clear evidence to show it was a legitimate penalty claim. The second incident saw Garcia once again at the forefront of the controversy.
Following a shot on goal, Garcia handled the ball on the line to stop it from going in. Despite Madrid players hounding the referee, the claim was once again dismissed.
The third and final incident once again involved the ex -Madrid man, Garcia. With Cristiano Ronaldo aiming to go for a shot, the midfielder grabbed Ronaldo – wrapping both his arms around the forward which interfered in his attempt on goal. Yet again, the pleas for a penalty went unheard. The final whistle saw Real Madrid fall against Real Betis 1-0.
6 and 7: Las Palmas:
Matchday 11 saw an encounter against Las Palmas. Despite collecting all 3 points against the side, the game wasn’t without controversy.
The first moment came when Casemiro saw himself getting crunched by no more than 3 Las Palmas players – despite battling with the ref, Sanchez Martinez, the claim for a penalty was denied. The second incident in the game saw a 50:50 challenge between Nacho and Lemos in the box. The latter arrived late on the center-back which saw the players once again argue for a penalty which wasn’t given.
8,9 and 10: The Madrid derby:
The latest Madrid Derby was one that was embroiled in controversy. The first incident in the game was the brutal kick to the head on Sergio Ramos from Lucas Hernandez during an aerial duel. The Atletico defender broke the Real Madrid captains nose and subsequently, Ramos didn’t appear for the second half.
The second incident occurred with Diego Godin blocked a Cristiano Ronaldo cross inside the six-yard box with his arm. The referee, Bordalan, decided neither incident were penalties and let the game continue.
The final call came when striker Fernando Torres wrestled Nacho during a corner and prevented him from getting his head to the ball. The game also saw numerous other red card potential incidents including Savic committing a near leg-breaking tackle on Toni Kroos which was ignored as well as Angel Correa kicking the ball into the head of a downed Karim Benzema.
Despite the numerous controversies, it is clear Real still need to improve.
However, a lot of these issues have been potential game-changing moments. Had these calls been given, the tally of dropped points stands at nine (Two against Valencia, two against Levante, three against Betis and two against Atletico).
When you consider Real currently sit 10 points behind leaders, Barcelona, these 9 points could have meant the spectators still talking about an open title race.
Next: Real Madrid will be without captain Sergio Ramos for 2-3 weeks