France is still debating the refereeing seen on Tuesday in the Champions League match between Real Madrid and Olympique Marseille. Even after letting 24 hours pass, the criticism hasn’t subsided. On RMC’s program Rothen s’enflamme, Jérôme Rothen, Emmanuel Petit and Jean-Pierre Papin denounced what they see as favoritism toward the Spanish club in European competition.
France calls out Madrid-biased referees
“If I look at it on the international stage, in the number of matches against European giants – like against Bayern Munich – every time there are controversial decisions, they always go Real Madrid’s way. It’s never against them, it’s always like that. As for Carvajal’s sending off, it was a ridiculous moment. It was enough to wonder if they were trying to find something in VAR to get away with it... It was a serious situation! By manipulating things too much, it becomes grotesque,” said Emmanuel Petit.
“With Real Madrid, referees are much more lenient, they always try to make things look good. When I saw the referee practically arm in arm with Carvajal at his sending off... frankly, it raises questions. Medina’s penalty, honestly, is grotesque. For a club like Real Madrid, it’s too much. They don’t need much help to win matches... and yet we give it to them when they’re not even in trouble. It’s a bit excessive...” added Papin.
Rothen had started the debate by slamming the referee for awarding that penalty against Marseille: “How can you whistle for a penalty for that kind of play? It’s simply scandalous. It’s always the same, we try to break down the doors but UEFA doesn’t want to react. We saw it coming. We knew that after Carvajal’s red card – and it took him a long time to give it – the referee would compensate. And that’s what we saw...,” argued the French journalist.