Madrid: These days, it seems like Zinedine Zidane is spending more time answering questions about referees than about his own players. Zinedine Zidane is currently in charge of the Real Madrid team. Real Madrid have taken the lead in the La Liga points table. This came after their 2-1 win over Real Sociedad. It was their third straight win following the break caused by the coronavirus pandemic. However, the focus surrounding the team was on accusations of bad refereeing.
Tired of accusations
Zidane made it clear he is tired of that. “It bothers me that in the end everyone only talks about the referees,” the Madrid coach said. “It seems like we haven’t done anything ourselves on the field,” the Frenchman added.
The victory allowed Madrid to move ahead of Barcelona. However it was filled with controversy. Video reviews confirmed that Madrid have been deprived a penalty kick and a goal while Sociedad had a goal disallowed.
“I don’t want to get into controversies because there is a referee who is in charge,” Zidane said. “I only want to talk about our victory. It was a deserved victory. I want to talk about soccer, about the game itself. I can’t say anything about the rest,” Zidane added.
Refereeing controversies
Madrid had also benefited from VAR decisions in the 3-0 win over Valencia and the 3-1 victory over Eibar. Valencia had publicly complained as a goal for them had been disallowed. They said the footballer marked offside was not involved in the play at all.
Barcelona defender Gerard Piqué had a point to make Friday after Barcelona’s 0-0 draw at Sevilla. “It will be hard’ to win this league after seeing what happened in the last matches. It will be difficult for Real Madrid to lose points,” Piqué said.
Zidane’s take
Zidane sidestepped the controversy when asked if the Barcelona defender was referring to Madrid benefiting from the referees. “Everyone is entitled to their own opinion,” Zidane said. “The referees aren’t favoring us, I’m clear about that. That’s all there is to say,” he added.
League keenly poised
Madrid and Barcelona both have 65 points. However, Madrid have a better goal difference and a better head-to-head record.
