What’s the story?
Villarreal president Fernando Roig told the media that the officials who were in-charge of the game between Real Madrid and Villareal at the Estadio de la Cerámica were biased towards the Madrid side.
Also Read: Villarreal 2-3 Real Madrid, 5 Talking Points
Speaking after the game, he said, “Gil Manzano and his assistants left the stadium with Real Madrid bags. That’s not right, it seems to me.”
In case you didn’t know..
Real Madrid and Villarreal played out a blockbuster of a game on Sunday, as the Yellow Submarine went 2-0 up to see Real Madrid come back and win the game 2-3. However, the biggest talking point of the game was just ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo’s goal in the 73rd minute of the game.
The goal came via a penalty, Toni Kroos took a low shot from the edge of the box, which was blocked by Victor Ruiz. The ball, however, ricochets off him and appeared to hit the hand of Villarreal captain Bruno Soriano. Referee for the evening Gil Manzano pointed to the spot, amid furious protests from the home team and their dugout.
The heart of the matter
Real Madrid are just one point ahead of arch-rivals Barcelona at 55 points, who won their game against Atletico Madrid earlier in the day. Hence, the win was vital for the Madrid side, given they were down 2-0.
The incident though has attracted a lot of criticism for the referee from players and pundits. Gerard Pique, came out and spoke after the incident, “We all saw what happened in Madrid's game with Sevilla, I hope referees improve their standards”, to which Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos replied saying, “"We already know about Pique's world, where everything's a plot against him.”
What’s next?
It is quite embarrassing for the official Gil Manzano to be caught in the position where not only his decision could be questioned, but also his neutrality on the day. There will be a lot of people who will cry foul, and La Liga has probably got to look into the matter.
Sportskeeda’s Take
This is bound to raise questions about the influence on the referee from Real Madrid, something that the club should probably release a statement on, to explain the situation. To me this is still a case of a bad decision blown out of order. There is no rule book for referees which says you can’t use club merchandise.
However, it will be interesting to see how the matter develops.
