Alvaro Arbeloa, Real Madrid’s coach, sparked controversy over refereeing after giving an ambiguous answer to a question about rivals Barcelona’s complaints.
Barcelona’s match against Atletico Madrid, played yesterday evening, Wednesday, in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals, featured controversial refereeing incidents. The capital side won 2–0, ahead of the return leg at home next Tuesday.
Barcelona’s players and their coach, Hans Flick, were surprised that no penalty was awarded despite Marc Pubill handling the ball, and they also protested the sending-off of Pau Cubarsi.
Flick said after the match: “I think there are many situations, for example the one where their player touched the ball with his hand (inside the penalty area), and the referee didn’t whistle anything... For me it’s very clear. I don’t know why VAR didn’t intervene!”
When asked about Barcelona’s complaints regarding the Pubill incident, Arbeloa said at a press conference on Thursday morning ahead of Friday’s La Liga match against Girona: “I don’t want to get into such assessments. We saw what happened last weekend, and what has continued to happen for many weeks.”
He added: “My opinion is clear and I stand by it, what I see week after week.”
Asked whether he thinks refereeing for Real Madrid and Barcelona differs in Europe compared to La Liga, Arbeloa replied: “Everyone knows my opinion about what has happened for years and what is still happening. I won’t change my opinion.”
As for whether he doubts the refereeing system in Spain, he explained: “It’s not about trust or lack of it, but about what we see.”
He continued: “What happened on Tuesday with (Kylian) Mbappe’s challenge, it’s hard to understand how it wasn’t a red card. It happens even with video technology, which was thought would solve many problems.”
The coach went on: “In Spain we are still waiting for an explanation, and it must be fixed. There are a lot of doubts in decisions like these. Sometimes VAR intervenes and sometimes it doesn’t. I try to focus on my work as a coach.”
Arbeloa was referring to the incident involving a challenge by Jonathan Tah, Bayern Munich’s defender, on Mbappe in the second half of the two sides’ match at the Santiago Bernabeu in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals, which the Bavarian side won 2–1.