The Madrid derby did not end with the final whistle at the Metropolitano. Atlético Madrid’s 2–1 victory over city rivals Real Madrid sparked a heated debate over the refereeing of Miguel Ángel Ortiz Arias, with reactions continuing in the days after the match. Real publicly highlighted two first-half incidents which, in the club’s view, should have resulted in red cards, while Atlético urged critics not to cross the line of respect.
Real Madrid made no attempt to hide their frustration following the defeat. In the club’s official match report, the refereeing was described as “poor”, with Real specifically pointing to Cristian “Cuti” Romero’s challenge on Jude Bellingham and Kang-in Lee’s tackle on Federico Valverde as two key incidents from the first half.
In the first incident, Romero caught Bellingham on the leg with his studs showing. Ortiz Arias initially even showed a yellow card to the Real Madrid player before VAR called the referee over to review the incident. After watching the replay, Bellingham’s booking was overturned and Romero was shown a yellow card instead. Real Madrid believe the challenge warranted a straight red.
Just a few minutes later, another controversial moment followed. Kang-in Lee caught Valverde on the left ankle with his studs, but this time there was neither a card nor a VAR intervention. The incident later gained further significance after reports in Spain claimed that the Technical Committee of Referees had concluded that VAR should have intervened and that the challenge deserved a sending-off.
The controversy intensified further at the start of the second half. Dean Huijsen was sent off following a VAR review for a foul on Giuliano Simeone inside the penalty area, with Alejandro Grimaldo converting the resulting penalty. Jonathan David then made it 2–0 before Antonio Rüdiger scored in the 89th minute to set the final score at 2–1.
Real Madrid coach José Mourinho continued the debate immediately after the match. He appeared at the post-match press conference carrying photographs of the two controversial incidents and said that, in his opinion, they were “two clear red cards”. His argument was straightforward: the course of the match would have been completely different had Atlético been reduced to nine men in the first half.
Mourinho also criticised the decision to appoint Ortiz Arias for such a high-profile fixture, pointing to the referee’s relatively limited experience at the highest level and the inconsistency in the way VAR intervened in different situations. However, the Portuguese coach also stressed that he did not want to go as far as suggesting that anything had been pre-arranged and said he preferred to believe that the incidents were simply refereeing mistakes.
On the opposite side, Diego Simeone called for greater caution in public comments. The Argentine said that regardless of whether it was him, Mourinho or any other coach speaking, no one should cross “the line of respect”. Atlético also responded on social media with a message condemning what the club described as the “harassment of referees”.
As a result, the derby developed from an intense sporting contest into another chapter in the wider debate surrounding refereeing in Spanish football. Real maintained that the controversial decisions had directly influenced the course of the match, while Atlético insisted that the discussion surrounding the officiating should not overshadow their victory on the pitch.
According to reports in the Spanish media, the consequences of the derby are not expected to end with public criticism alone. Ortiz Arias is reportedly set to be sidelined for at least two league rounds.
The derby ended with three points for Atlético, but the story surrounding the match clearly did not finish with the final score. The two disputed first-half incidents, Huijsen’s sending-off and the heated reactions after the game have once again placed refereeing at the centre of attention.
