Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti and captain Sergio Ramos criticised referee Alberto Undiano after claiming Los Blancos were denied two clear penalties in their 2-1 Clasico defeat to Barcelona at the Nou Camp on Saturday night.
Madrid were trailing 1-0 when Sami Khedira’s close-range shot appeared to strike Barca defender Adriano on the arm, while Cristiano Ronaldo was convinced he should have been awarded a second half spot-kick after a nudge in the back from Javier Mascherano.
Undiano – who refereed at the 2010 World Cup – was unmoved on both occasions, however, and Ancelotti was particularly irked by the refusal of Ronaldo’s appeal.
“It looked very clear to me,” he said. “Everyone saw it except the referee and I’m not sure how an international referee could not see it. The decision on Adriano was difficult. If he’d whistled, it could have been a card [Adriano had already been booked] and the result would have been very different.”
Ramos, who played in centre midfield and was booked in the first half for shoving Neymar with his forearm, said: “There are some things you can’t fight against. There were two very clear penalties in Barcelona’s penalty area and I don’t like having to justify myself to referees.”
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Barcelona were unimpressed by their rivals’ attempts to undermine the credibility of their victory. Midfielder Sergio Busquets said: “Every time they lose, the easy excuse is the referee. But they can’t do it this time. The referee made mistakes in favour of both sides, but he didn’t influence the outcome of the game.”
Barca boss Tata Martino, meanwhile, has demanded more from his team despite seeing them climb six points clear of Madrid with their deserved victory.
The hosts were completely dominant in the opening 45 minutes, controlling the flow of the game and restricting Madrid to very occasional attacking threats. The second half, however, was a surprisingly open affair and Madrid had opportunities to level before substitute Alexis Sanchez sealed the points with a magnificent second goal.
Argentine Martino said: “I think generally the whole team produced a great performance in the first half. That was the Barca we are used to seeing, but afterwards it wasn’t the same and we had to make changes.
“During 20 minutes in the second half I could see that we were too deep and giving the initiative to Madrid. We made changes to modify this and after that we counter-attacked better and had more control in the final 15 minutes.”
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