Real Madrid’s Copa Del Rey Referee Scandal
The Copa del Rey Finals occurred yesterday, and it wasn’t without its controversies. Leading up to the Finals, there were already issues regarding referee Ricardo de Burgos Bengoetxea commenting, “We're going to have to take stricter measures than the ones we're taking now. In the coming days, you'll see that we'll make history.” Real Madrid took that as a threat that the referee of the Finals would persecute their team unfairly, and there were rumors that Los Blancos would refuse to play the finals.
The context of these comments is a response to Real Madrid TV’s video that was released which was a compilation of perceived referee’s mistakes against Real Madrid. Los Blancos responded to the rumors of them not playing the Finals, clarifying that they were untrue and that the referee's comments were “unfortunate and inappropriate”. Burgos also discussed a potential referee strike in response but they also decided not to go through with it. All of these controversies set the stage for the Copa del Rey “El Clásico” Finals.
The Final Mayhem
The Finals were a tense affair between Real Madrid and Barcelona. Tensions were high on both sides, and it showed on the field. Pedri opened the game up for Barcelona in the 28th minute and was able to control the game for the first half. Los Blancos started to claw back into the game in the 70th minute with a fine free kick from Kylian Mbappé and eventually took the lead with a header by Aurélien Tchouaméni that came from a corner kick. The game looked much better for Madrid at this point up until Ferran Torres was able to score a goal in the 84th minute to tie the game up and send it into extra time. Extra time seemed to be a standstill and it looked like the game would be settled by penalties when Jules Koundé scored a screamer in the 116th minute from outside the box which shocked the stadium and the Real Madrid players who watched as the French defender struck the ball into the net. This was the goal that sentenced Real Madrid to the loss and gave Barcelona their championship win.
The referees were faced with a couple of controversial moments in this game, some involving calls and others involving angry players. The most controversial moment came from Real Madrid players towards the end of the game. Antonio Rüdiger and Lucas Vázquez both picked up red cards after already subbing out of the game. Rüdiger’s offense was quite violent, requiring staff and other players to hold him back. He was carded for throwing an object onto the field. Real Madrid should be concerned about him having to face a lengthy ban. Jude Bellingham also was red-carded in the final minute of stoppage time. Another moment that the referees had to deal with was an alleged foul on Raphina in the penalty box. VAR was called by the referee to determine if there was contact on the challenge that led to the possible foul and the VAR referees determined that there was no contact on Raphina or the ball, which meant that Raphina dived to bait a penalty. Burgos then gave Raphina a yellow card for diving which angered Barcelona fans and players on the field. All the frustration and anger shown by the Real Madrid side was indicative of a season full of disappointment and shattered dreams.
