Valencia's Rodrigo explains his sending off against Real Madrid

The explanation was simple enough, but the consequences were fatal to Valencia's chances of taking anything from the Bernabéu. Los che were in the ascendancy at that point, Rodrigo had scored one of the goals that had squeezed Real Madrid and put their late title charge in peril. It was 3-2 when it happened, Rodrigo lost his temper with the same lineman who failed to raise his flag for Benzema's offside goal, insulted him and saw red.

"The referees always favour Real Madrid" said Valencia sports daily Superdeporte, mirroring the furious reaction to referee Borbalán's performance at the Bernabéu.

After the match Rodrigo spoke to the press and explained his red card:

Why were you sent off?

"It was a tense moment, I had been fouled, I was angry that the whistle didn't blow, and out of anger I screamed at the linesman telling him he was a "cagón" (A difficult one to translate into English as there's no equivalent as a noun: it essentially means a 'bottler' - as in the ref's assistant had bottled it - but is more offensive than that. "You shat it", maybe, or "You're a fucking bottler". Take your pick!)

"I know it's something you shouldn't say to anyone, but I didn't insult his family or anything worse than that and he decided to send me off, it's not a comment that deserves a red card. Look, he had already made the wrong decision in a key point in the match and you know, it gets to you and say things you shouldn't".

Did the goal at 2-0 deepen your resolve?

"The goal that made it 2-0 was a clear mistake. The ref blew for offside, then changed his mind, but I don't know why he reversed his decision".

Pako Ayerestán doesn't know what the future holds, what does the dressing room think?

"That's in the hands of the club. With Pako the team has been much better, it hasn't been a good season and I'm sure the club will take the necessary measures".