Real Madrid squeezed past Olympique Marseille in their Champions League debut on Tuesday night, sealing a 2-1 win late on courtesy of a brace of Kylian Mbappe penalties. The second incident, which saw Facundo Medina’s trailing arm touch the ball after a tackle on Vinicius Junior, caused no shortage of uproar in France.
Los Blancos were given a stonewall penalty in the first half after Rodrygo Goes drew a challenge from Geoffrey Kondogbia, but were then reduced to ten men with 20 minutes to go following Dani Carvajal’s headbutt. With the scores level and the game in the balance, the penalty swung things back in Real Madrid’s favour.
Roberto De Zerbi baffled by ‘disgraceful’ decision
During his series of media duties in different languages, De Zerbi pointed to media pressure on the officials as a factor in the decision.
“Ahh incredible. Never. Never. It’s not a penalty. But I think you know better than me, Real Madrid, when the day before, when they create this… noise. Incredible. I don’t want to create polemic, but it’s never a penalty,” de Zerbi told CBS.
“Incredible…it’s never a penalty.” 🗣️
Roberto De Zerbi weighs in after Marseille’s defeat to Real Madrid and the penalty that sealed it 👀 pic.twitter.com/7aFlQpbIIe
— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) September 16, 2025
De Zerbi reiterated to Movistar+ that the penalty was “A disgrace. But with the failure of Real Sociedad (Dean Huijsen was sent off against them on Saturday), everyone speaking about injustice towards to Real Madrid, and tonight, it was us.”
😤 “El penalti es una vergüenza”, De Zerbi.#LaCasaDelFútbol #UCL pic.twitter.com/kDTJtQVlo5
— Fútbol en Movistar Plus+ (@MovistarFutbol) September 16, 2025
Later in his press conference, de Zerbi said he meant nothing by invoking the name of Real Madrid to Diario AS. He also remarked that he would not have sent Dani Carvajal off either, but that by the letter of the law, it was a red card.
“No, when I say it’s shameful, there’s no thought behind it. I say it’s not a penalty, and I’ll say it if it goes in our favour… What happened with Madrid against Real Sociedad… if the referee today was Bosnian… I’m not thinking about any of that.”
‘I’ve already been through it’ – Marseille Sporting Director
Meanwhile Mehdi Benatia, the OM Sporting Director, also cited Real Madrid’s history when making his complaints about the officials.
“It’s a very difficult penalty to accept, but I already experienced it seven years ago (with a penalty on Lucas Vazquez in the 2019 Real Madrid-Juventus semi-finals). I have the same feeling,” he told Cadena SER, calling Facundo Medina’s movement of his arm ‘unavoidable’.
The irony of the situation will not be lost on the neutral. As Marseille complain about Real Madrid benefitting from decisions, Los Blancos are preparing a dossier to send to FIFA claiming that Real Madrid suffer bias against them. Real Madrid are awaiting the length of the suspension for Carvajal after his dismissal, but are hoping to see their appeal against Huijsen’s red card prosper.
