Real Madrid: Barcelona lead Clasico in penalties awarded
Real Madrid feel they should have been awarded two penalties in Wednesday's encounter at Camp Nou, but have had only two spot kicks in the past 27 years.
Real Madrid were left aggrieved after Wednesday night’s Clásico at Camp Nou, with the visitors feeling they should have been awarded at least two penalties at Barcelona’s stadium as the two sides played out a 0-0 draw.
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Madrid posted their grievances with the match officials and the VAR system after the game, noting that Raphaël Varane had two decent penalty claims waved away without the eye in the sky getting involved.
"On minute 17, [Varane] went to head a corner before Lenglet stood on his thigh muscle in the area, but neither the referee nor VAR [where (Ricardo) de Burgos Bengoetxea was in charge] deemed it a penalty,” the statement read. “Two minutes later and following another corner, the central defender had his shirt pulled by Ivan Rakitic, which saw him end up on the ground in the penalty area. However, once again, neither the referee or the VAR system decided to award the penalty."
Gareth Bale also had a goal ruled out for offside, with Madrid complaining that the flag raised against Ferland Mendy in the build-up was not properly analysed.
Real Madrid pay penalty in Camp Nou
But the fact remains that Madrid have had the thin edge of the wedge in terms of penalty awards in Clásicos. In the past 28 Liga games they have played at Camp Nou, Madrid have had just two spot kicks. The most recent was in March 2007, which Ruud van Nistelrooy took, and before that 1992, when Míchel shouldered the responsibility.
On the other side of the coin, Barcelona have had four penalty awards in the Bernabéu since 2011, including two in a single game in 2013-14 that proved decisive in the title race. Match referee Undiano Mallenco pointed to the spot after actions by both Sergio Ramos and Xabi Alonso in a game that Barça won 3-4 in one of the closest title races in Liga history. Atlético eventually won the league with 90 points, beating Barça to the Crown on the final day with a 1-1 draw in Camp Nou, while Madrid finished level on points with the Catalan side on 87, three behind Diego Simeone’s champions.
In the history of the Clásico, Madrid have never been awarded two penalties in a single game.