Real Madrid feel penalty calls have cost them seven points
Real Madrid feel the Zouhair Feddal penalty non-award against Real Betis is just the latest in a string of calls that have gone against them in LaLiga.
After Saturday's 0-0 draw with Real Betis, there was annoyance among Real Madrid bosses, players and fans alike. They were frustrated at missing the chance to leapfrog Barcelona at the top of LaLiga - and, above all, at the decision not to award a penalty for a second-half Zouhair Feddal handball in the box.
What in previous seasons was a spot-kick (for example, Gerard Piqué was penalised for a very similar incident in Madrid's 3-1 Clásico victory over Barcelona in the 2014/15 campaign), was not given against Betis.
Betis penalty decision follows Villarreal, Mallorca incidents
However, Madrid's complaints go beyond just this call. They feel that penalty decisions have not been going their way since the season began, so much so that they believe this has cost them a total of seven points: two against Betis, two at Villarreal and all three points in Mallorca, where they are adamant they were robbed of more than one spot-kick.
The first penalty non-award took place in week three of LaLiga. In the final stages of Madrid's 2-2 draw at Villarreal, Vinicius Júnior went down in the area under the challenge of Raúl Albiol. Replays showed that Albiol caught the forward's leg as he sought to clear the ball, but referee Jesús Gil Manzano waved away Madrid's appeals, and VAR did not intervene.
In the 1-0 defeat to Real Mallorca two weeks ago, meanwhile, Brahim Díaz had his shirt pulled in the area by Salva Sevilla, only for this infringement to go unpunished by the referee, Ignacio Iglesias Villanueva, and his video assistant. What's more, Madrid came away from Son Moix complaining that Mallorca also got away with a Lago Junior foul on Casemiro (the midfielder had been flagged offside despite TV images showing he wasn't) and an Antonio Raíllo tug on Sergio Ramos.
Madrid annoyance heightened by penalty incident last term
Finally, there is the Feddal incident, which saw the defender change the direction of a Karim Benzema cross with his hand. To add to Madrid's irritation, this season's decisions come on the back of last term's controversy against Real Sociedad. In a 2-0 win for La Real in January, Vinicius was felled in the box by goalkeeper Gerónimo Rulli when the score was still only 1-0, but José Luis Munuera Montero opted against pointing to the spot and was told by VAR that he did not need to take a second look.
The incident even led Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez to lodge a complaint with Spanish Football Federation chief Luis Rubiales.