Real Madrid came into the derby against Atletico Madrid knowing that they needed a win. The defending champions had already fallen 8 points behind Barcelona in the La Liga title race. Carlo Ancelotti’s side had gotten a huge boost in midweek though, thanks to their 5-2 win away at Anfield against Liverpool.
The hope was that it would be the turning point of their campaign and help Real Madrid discover their best form, and go on a run. Till now, things have been stop-start for Los Blancos.
Unfortunately, they stumbled at the very first hurdle put in front of them after the big win against Liverpool. Real Madrid could only manage a 1-1 draw vs Atletico Madrid, even after the opposition had a man sent off in the form of Angel Correa.
There was controversy surrounding the red card though. Replays showed that Correa did not make a lot of contact with Antonio Rudiger. And while it was certainly an offence on the part of the Atletico Madrid player, a red card does seem pretty harsh.
Diego Simeone slams Real Madrid player after Derby
It is unsurprising that Simeone was not happy with the referee’s decision to send Correa off for the incident. As reported by AS (via Football Espana), the Atletico Madrid manager said:
"“The contact is not a hit. Rüdiger is 1.94m.“A blow so brutal that he apparently had to sit down, but was quickly able to stand up.“It could be a yellow, but if we send off a player for that, there would not be a player left on the field.”"
To be very honest, it is not hard to understand why Simeone might not be happy with the incident. If the shoe was on the other foot, Real Madrid fans would not be pleased either.
Refereeing in La Liga has been a point of discussion for a very long time and this was another incident, which shows that improvement is needed when it comes to the officiating of games. Correa’s red card could have had a much bigger impact on the result of the match, but Atletico Madrid did manage to leave Santiago Bernabeu with a point.