February 26, (THEWILL) – Diego Simeone has accused referees of favouring Real Madrid after Angel Correa was sent off during Atletico Madrid’s recent derby draw.
Simeone believed that Madrid received preferential treatment, even though his team had put another dent in their rivals’ La Liga title hopes. Despite Jose Gimenez having headed Atleti in front, 18-year-old Alvaro Rodriguez scored a late equaliser to level the score.
Simeone was aggrieved not to have picked up all three points and highlighted what he perceives as refereeing bias towards Madrid after Correa’s red card for an elbow to the chest of Antonio Rudiger. “A contact is not a blow,” Simeone said in his post-match comments.
“Football is a physical game. If I’m not mistaken, Rudiger measures 1.94 metres and if it was apparently such a brutal blow, it would have left him sitting down, but he immediately gets up. It’s the same story. It is normal, and it has become normal [referees favouring Madrid] and that’s not right, and it would be nice if we could all compete in the same way.”
It is Atleti’s third dismissal in three meetings with Madrid this season. Correa’s dismissal follows Stefan Savic’s red card during a 3-1 extra-time loss in the Copa del Rey quarter-final and Mario Hermoso’s sending-off in September’s league defeat. Simeone is frustrated by favouritism towards Carlo Ancelotti’s men, especially at the Santiago Bernabeu. “Every time we come here [to the Bernabeu], it goes against us,” he said.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
