Barcelona managed to triumph in the Copa del Rey final in extremis on Saturday night, securing the winner five minutes from time through an excellent Jules Kounde strike. That took some of the sting out of a game where tensions over officiating were raised to new heights with Real Madrid requesting that the officials be changed a day before the game.
Over the course of several hours after referee Ricardo de Burgos Bengoetxea and VAR Pablo Gonzalez Fuertes gave a press conference, Los Blancos made their indignation clear, feeling they would be biased against them. Following the cancellation of their press conference and training session on Friday, it was rumoured that Los Blancos could pull out of the final, something Real Madrid later distanced themselves from.
From a Barcelona perspective, many saw this as an attempt to pile the pressure on the officials. One player who certainly was not impressed by it all was Basque defender Inigo Martinez, who spoke to Marca after the game.
President Laporta: “The one who decided that Flick should be the first team coach was Deco. It’s the signing of Deco and Bojan. I liked him from the start, I wanted to sign him from the start. As President I always have things to say, but it was them who analyzed him from a human…
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“They were very unfair. We all make mistakes. We can be better or worse… But for things to get to that level, it did not live up to the name of the great club that is Real Madrid. That’s my opinion,” he commented.
“I congratulated de Burgos Bengoetxea for the job that he had done, and I hope the rest also do it, that they put themselves in his place. Because it is not easy to be there, and to have everyone pointing at you and blaming you. I think that today football won and that is the important thing.”
Martinez would again continue on in defence of the officials, who he believed did a good job despite appeals from Barcelona fans for a penalty on Ferran Torres and potential red cards against Luka Modric and Aurelien Tchouameni.
“[I have to] Congratulate Richi and his colleagues, they were at a great level. I hope we all do it. It was very unfair to take things that far, and, for our part, we want to back them up. We all make mistakes in life and it’s hard. Nobody likes to be in that situation. He knew it would be difficult, a lot of noise surrounding it. I am happy for him, he is a great guy and his professionalism never fails.”
Certainly there were stronger reactions from elsewhere in Spanish football. While Barcelona largely kept clear of speaking about referees in the build-up, manager Hansi Flick did not that it was all of football’s duty to protect referees. Meanwhile La Liga President Javier Tebas accused Real Madrid of an abuse of power, and Atletico Madrid posited that Los Blancos were harassing officials.
