Xabi Alonso launched an astonishing tirade against the referee that oversaw Real Madrid’s shock defeat at the hands of Celta Vigo in La Liga on Sunday.
Alonso said he “hated” the performance of match official Quintero González, who sent off Fran García, Alvaro Carreras and Endrick during a fractious 90 minutes—the latter was on the bench at the time and so it didn’t reduce Real Madrid’s on-field numbers any futher.
Including the two yellow cards shown to García and Carreras, plus one given to Alonso himself for furious protestations, the referee dished out eight bookings to Los Blancos.
Carreras, Rodrygo and Federico Valvede were cautioned for dissent in the closing stages, while Jude Bellingham got his booking for re-entering the pitch without permission after being treated for an injury—a standard punishment for that offense. However, Real took exception with that given the reason he was off the pitch was an unpunished Celta elbow left him bleeding.
“The referee’s decisions drove us crazy,” Alonso declared afterwards.
“The red to Carreras was something he was clearly looking for. He let Celta waste time, never even warned them about it, kept stopping play every time ... I hated his performance.
“It got out of control.”
Celta were 1–0 ahead when Carreras was dismissed as tensions boiled over, going on to double that lead deep into stoppage time at the end as Williot Swedberg got his second goal of the match.
With things remaining heated in the Santiago Bernabéu tunnel after the final whistle, González’s report of the match alleges that injured Real Madrid captain Dani Carvajal approached him and said: “The level you’re playing at ... and then crying at a press conference.”
Real Madrid’s Tense Recent History With Referees
Real Madrid have often claimed injustice at the hands of referees in recent years, with Real Madrid TV notorious for making videos scrutinizing various officials and highlighting mistakes.
Last season, Ricardo de Burgos Bengoetxea was reduced to tears at an emotional press conference by claims that Barcelona win a high proportion of games he referees after being chosen to officiate the Copa del Rey final between the Catalans and capital club. Real Madrid had a few months earlier formally complained to Spain’s High Council for Sports, alleging that refereeing in the country is “rigged.”
Here, there could be little complaining about García’s costly dismissal, which came at a time when Real were already trailing and chasing the game. The left back was guilty of making two reckless challenges, with the second almost immediately following the first.
Television cameras caught Alonso’s reaction as García was trudging off the field and it was clear that the boss was incredibly frustrated with the lack of discipline he’d just witnessed. “Don’t f--- with me!” are the words he allegedly yelled from the technical area.
Alonso Wants ‘Bad Taste’ Gone Before Man City Match
Alonso and his team must quickly regain their focus because the Champions League visit of Manchester City to the Spanish capital looms in the coming days.
He noted that Real are “angry” about how Sunday went down and “wasn’t the game or result we wanted.” He was also left ruing the injury to Éder Militão that “hurt” the team and from which he said it “was hard to recover.”
Real Madrid sit fifth in the Champions League standings with only three matchdays of the league phase remaining, but only three points separate them from Galatasaray in 14th place and so there is still an awful lot at stake—just the top eight qualify automatically for the round of 16, with the next 16 best teams all required to play an additional knockout playoff.
“We have to move on as quickly as possible,” Alonso said.
“There’s a lot of [La Liga] left, and on Wednesday we have the City game in the Champions League to react, and remove the bad taste from our mouths.”
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Xabi Alonso Loses His Cool in Staggering Tirade After Real Madrid Defeat.
