Real Madrid should be unhappy with the referee choice for El Clasico
By Ben Sundock
Alejandro Jose Hernandez Hernandez will be the man in charge of the critical La Liga tie between Real Madrid and FC Barcelona on Wednesday night in the Camp Nou. The appointment of Hernandez Hernandez should not only worry Madrid fans, but bother them significantly.
There are three specific instances where Real Madrid has felt hard done by a referee decision in important El Clasico matches.
The first instance was in April 2016 when Real Madrid was tied 1-1 with Barca in the Camp Nou. Gareth Bale rose above Jordi Alba and thumped a header into the back of the net which seemed to have put Los Blancos ahead in the final 10 minutes. However, head referee Hernandez Hernandez decided to call a foul on Bale and disallow the goal.
Even though Real Madrid went on to win the match 2-1, it is still hard to comprehend how this goal was ruled off for a foul.
A year later, in a competitive fixture in the Santiago Bernabéu, Real Madrid trailed Barca 2-1 midway through the second half. After clearing a dangerous cross from Karim Benzema out of the area, Sergio Ramos was shown a straight red card for a “dangerous” challenge on Lionel Messi which saw the Real Madrid make barely any contact on the player.
When re-watching the highlight, it is clear that Ramos not only got a piece of the ball on the challenge, but didn’t make any direct contact before touching the ball or during the follow through on Messi. So, how can this be a straight red card?
In that same match that Ramos saw red, in the first half, Cristiano Ronaldo was raked across the leg by center back Ssamuel Umtiti where the Barca defender stepped on one of CR7’s feet, then proceeded to kick him in the thigh of his other leg.
The foul occurred just inside the Barcelona box, but Hernandez Hernandez chose to let the play go on and did not make the call.
To make matters worse, everyone remembers the referee that Cristiano Ronaldo pushed after being shown red in the Cop de España second leg in August 2018. That referee, Ricardo de Burgos Bengoetxea, will be in charge of VAR for the match.
Next. Real Madrid Predicted XI for El Clasico. dark
The discussion heading into this El Clasico should not be on which officials are working, rather, it should be on the quality of the two teams and the important battle for first place in La Liga.
Every Real Madrid fan should be and will be hyper-critical of Hernandez Hernandez during this match.