LaLiga giants Real Madrid have not taken kindly to the refereeing decision that prevented what could have been their winning goal in their draw with Valencia.
Both teams clashed in week 27 of the 2023 LaLiga season at the Mestalla, Valencia’s home ground. Madrid had the opportunity to extend their lead at the top of the table to nine points, which would also put 11 points between them and their eternal rival Barcelona in the race for this season’s title.
Los Blancos met a resolute Valencia who stunned them twice in three minutes in the first half. They equalised through Vinicius Jr’s brace and almost bagged all three points but for referee Jesus Gil Manzano’s brazen decision to end the game while Madrid was attacking.
The referee had awarded seven minutes extra time after regular time elapsed and Madrid had an attack that led to a corner kick in the last minute of additional time. After the initial attack was cleared by Valencia’s defence, Manzano appeared to whistle just as Madrid were attempting another attack. That attack ended up in the back of the net, just two seconds after Manzano’s whistle.
The entire Madrid bench swarmed the pitch to protest the decision with Jude Bellingham, the scorer of the cancelled third goal, sent off for his protests.
Los Blancos, who have been accused of colluding with referees in recent times, released a statement after the events of the afternoon.
“An unprecedented refereeing decision by Gil Manzano prevented Real Madrid’s victory against Valencia at Mestalla,” their statement began. “With the score at 2-2 and in the last play of the game, Brahim [Diaz] crossed into the area and Bellingham finished off with a header making it 2-3.
“But the referee annulled the goal by signalling the end of the match when the Malaga native’s pass went through the air. The league leaders deserved the three points, but added only one in a match that they were losing 2-0.
“Two goals from Vini[cius] Jr. tied the duel, finally resolved with the decision of Gil Manzano.”
Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti also expressed his displeasure, especially at Bellingham’s red card.
“There’s not much to say,” he told journalists after the game. “Something unprecedented has happened and it’s never happened to me before.
“After the rebound we had possession. It’s never happened to me before and there’s nothing more to add.
“We were annoyed by Bellingham ‘s red card because he didn’t say anything insulting. It was frustration. He said: ‘it’s a fucking goal’ and that’s the truth. Had the referee blown the whistle when the Valencia keeper cleared the ball, it would have been right, but he allowed play to continue and we had possession. I think he has made a mistake.
“We are upset and angry. It’s normal but we have to get back to normal because we have an important game on Wednesday.”
