Real Madrid has been the subject of several controversies related to the refereeing lately and according to Zidane but also the players, fans and the public in general, these controversies have had their weight in Madrid’s results. That weight is certainly a considerable one since in this moment even one single point can make the difference.
Zinedine Zidane spoke in the Alfredo Di Stéfano press room after the clash between Real Madrid and Sevilla. The French coach said: "I don't understand anything. There was a handball by Militão, but also by Sevilla. I wasn't convinced by what the referee told me, but that's the way it is, he makes the calls. I'm a bit angry today because I need the handball rule explained to me. But that's the way it is, we're not going to change anything".
The teams were level at 1-1 when referee Juan Martinez Munuera initially gave Madrid a penalty for a foul by goalkeeper Bono on forward Karim Benzema -- only for the VAR to intervene after spotting an earlier handball by defender Eder Militao at the other end. Ivan Rakitic converted that spot kick, before Eden Hazard deflected a Toni Kroos shot past Bono in the 95th minute to earn Madrid a draw.
He continued: “We’re happy with our performance, the second half was spectacular. We got off to a slow start in the first 25 minutes, but the second half was really good. The league isn’t in our hands now, but we’ll fight right to the end, until the death”.
The team gave everything: "We can talk, you can ask me and I can answer, but nothing is going to be clarified now. We have to think about the three remaining matches. I'm also annoyed about the result, because we deserved more. The players gave everything on the pitch and deserved the win. The league isn’t in our hands now, but we’ll fight right to the end, until the death”. I've got faith in football, that goes without saying. I trust everyone, I trust the referees. I've never interfered and I'm not going to interfere. The thing today was that there were two handballs and the one awarded was against Real Madrid. That's the truth".
Run in: "We feel good. My players showed their commitment, they wanted to win the game. I'm very happy with the game. We've got three games to go and we're going to fight til the end. If we have to play tomorrow the team be ready. We play on Thursday and Sunday and we're going to focus on these games".
Change of approach: "We didn't start the game well and they did. It was different after the goal and we improved a lot. We deserved the win four our performance".
Words from the goal scorer Marco Asensio: "We still don't understand how the handball rule works. The referee was close, he didn't give it, play continued and we won a clear penalty, then the VAR intervened and decided to give them a penalty. I haven't seen the replay yet but Militao isn't even looking at the ball," Asensio continued. "It touches his arm without him wanting to. We're annoyed because it changes not just the game, but our chances of winning the league."
Luka Modric’ opinion: "I think we dropped two points today because we did everything to win the game. We played quite well, above all in the second half, we created a lot of chances. We had a penalty, and [the referee] gave a penalty the other way... It's bad luck."
Referee Juan Martinez Munuera was at the centre of Sunday night's most controversial moment as he awarded Sevilla a penalty with just over 10 minutes to go. After looking at the replays of the incident on the pitchside monitor, the referee gave Sevilla a penalty, which Ivan Rakitic scored. Juan Andujar Oliver, MARCA's resident referee expert, told Radio MARCA: "The ball first hits Militao's shoulder, then his arm. It's completely accidental. For me, it's not enough to give a penalty. The play should've continued and ended with a clear penalty from Bono on Benzema".
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