Real Madrid criticise penalty decisions during Rayo Vallecano draw

Real Madrid were disappointing during their goalless draw at Rayo Vallecano, but they felt that they were unlucky not to have won. Specifically, they left Vallecas with a feeling of not being given multiple penalties, which they felt were clear.

The first incident occurred during the first half when Pep Chavarria tangled with Jude Bellingham. According to ex-referee Eduardo Iturralde González (via Diario AS), Real Madrid should have been awarded a penalty for a foul on the English midfielder.

“It’s not that he holds him, it’s that he grabs him. He pushes him back… And it’s a penalty. He has the option of disputing the ball to shoot inside the area. The regulations don’t talk about grabbing, but about holding, and defines it as slowing down a player’s movement. And that happens, the grab prevents Bellingham from shooting. Penalty not signalled and the VAR should have alerted the referee. The VAR is for what it is, not to just watch football.”

RMTV cite Barcelona example during VAR rant

Late on, Kylian Mbappe claimed a penalty after he also clashed with Chavarria. On this decision, Real Madrid TV furiously took aim at on-field referee Martínez Munuera, as well as VAR official Jorge Figueroa Vázquez.

“Figueroa Vázquez has an important history of mistakes in the same direction… Real Madrid didn’t play well, but Barcelona arrived in Vallecas and instead of making these mistakes against them, the VAR is broken – although today it could also have been damaged. We don’t know if it stopped working… There was a penalty given against Lamine Yamal, and Mbappé’s is clearer. More than the one on the day in Barcelona, the one that Lamine wanted to invent.

“What happened today has no justification. The referee shields himself by saying that he has not seen it, but he arrives with the complicity of the one up front. It’s a joke. The one up front is not a mistake, but a clear intention not to whistle for the penalty. Because he doesn’t feel like it. You are imparting injustice. They keep doing the same thing. Martínez Munuera and Figueroa Vázquez are sons of the Negreira regime. You can see it with images.”