LALIGA
“Almería robbed at the Bernabéu”, the press reaction to Sunday’s LaLiga game
The press reaction from across Spain was scathing of referee Hernández Maeso. “The robbery of the century,” claims the Diario de Almería.
“We leave with the feeling that they have robbed us and on top of that they will think that they have done well,” said Almeria’s Gonzalo Melero in the mixed zone at Bernabéu after Sunday’s 3-2 win for the home side in a game tainted with controversy.
Almería were leading 0-2 when three decisions by referee Hernández Maes and VAR official Hernández Hernández changed the tide of the match in favour of the home side.
The referee disallowed what would have been a third goal for Almería due to a prior foul by Dion Lopy after a slap on Jude Bellingham, then awarded a penalty for Real Madrid following a dubious handball and then changed his decision after ruling out a goal by Vinicius, conceding the goal after blowing initially for a handball. All three decisions were made after going to the screen on the advice of Hernández Hernández in the VOR room. Almería felt that had been hard done by and this sentiment was echoed by many Spanish outlets.
Diario de Almería. “Almería suffers the robbery of the century at the Bernabéu”
El Diario de Almería pulled no punches after the game in Madrid stating: “Almería were the victims at the Santiago Bernabéu of one of the biggest referee robberies in memory, and there have been quite a few in the Chamartin stadium. Garitano’s team were denied glory thanks to the refereeing who distortedly interpreted all passages of play against Almeria,” claimed Paco Gregorio, head of the sports section in the Andalusian newspaper. “All this with more than 11 minutes of added time to facilitate Madrid extra time to find a winner,” he added bemoaning the amount of extra time added on at the end of the 90 minutes.
Catalan press also chip in
Barcelona based Mundo Deportivo and SPORT also harshly criticized the officiating at the Santiago Bernabéu. MD claims the game was a “robbery” adding that “Real Madrid turned around a 0-2 deficit against the bottom team in 99 minutes after several inexplicable VAR decisions.” The accompany their match report with a tweet stating: ‘Real Madrid win with the assistance of VAR’.
Sport also claim that the key decisions were loaded in favour of Real Madrid adding: “Robbery in LaLiga!” “Hernández Maeso and the VAR star in a black afternoon at the Bernabéu. Three historical errors which went the way of ‘Los Blancos’, and go onto call the performance of the officiating team a “scandal”.
Superdeporte cite “historic robbery”
Valencia based Superdeporte were also not shy in offering their thoughts of the incidents at the Bernabéu on Sunday with a headline of: “Historic robbery at the Bernabéu”, adding that, “the referees gift the victory to Madrid,” a team that were losing at home to bottom team Almería and ended up winning 3-2,” they add in their subtitle.