RMA manager Ancelotti continues complaints – ‘The referees have harmed us’

Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti has continued to claim that Los Blancos are the victims of refereeing decisions, noting that he feels that clear errors are being committed against them. The Italian manager did not dismiss the idea that La Liga is orchestrated against them.

Ancelotti was furious at the weekend after seeing his side drop points to Osasuna, and claimed that Jude Bellingham should not have been sent off for saying ‘f*** off’ after speaking to the referee, putting it down to the official’s poor command of English. Los Blancos also saw a number of penalty shouts turned down.

“Obviously, yes, we hope that they will not sanction him,” Ancelotti noted on Bellingham’s potential suspension. There was again controversy in Barcelona’s win over Rayo Vallecano on Monday night, but Ancelotti decided not to get into specifics.

“Nothing to say, I have already given my opinion on what has happened and is happening. It’s quite surprising and I have nothing to add. We are not happy with what happened against Osasuna, Atletico… three games in which we were harmed and I don’t understand it.”

Ancelotti admitted that he felt more comfortable with the officiating in European competitions.

“Yes, because the statistics speak for themselves. In Europe there is less controversy and fewer interventions, it is done when necessary. In the Champions League the best referees from each country whistle and the quality is very high.”

The Italian manager was asked whether he feels La Liga is orchestrated against them.

“I only comment on what I see, which is that in the last games they have made some pretty clear mistakes.”

VAR was installed nine years ago, and Ancelotti was asked for an overall opinion on the introduction of video technology, and whether is actually helping the game.

“I have doubts because I think that the VAR has taken away too much or too much responsibility from the referee. It is a somewhat dangerous system. The VAR has come in to avoid flagrant and obvious errors, not for interventions in things that are part of football. Many times they look for an image, which seeks to remove all the naturalness of football.”

“On many occasions we have seen penalties given for players standing on someone’s foot, when that is part of the game. I don’t know how many people agree with these penalties, like Le Normand’s against Borja Iglesias, Tchouameni’s, Camavinga’s… It’s difficult to understand. The referees can make mistakes, obviously, but the fact that the decision is made by the VAR is something I don’t understand,” Ancelotti commented.

Meanwhile Fede Valverde, who spoke before Ancelotti, did not escape his press conference without being asked about officials, but he was much more sanguine about the matter.

“I am not the one to judge the referee. We are all human and we can make mistakes. Referees are also criticised a lot and when they do things well they are not praised either. The only thing I can do is be available to the team and make, as captain, the team think about us, about working to give the best to this club and for the team to win titles at the end of the year.”