Almería star Marc Pubill has caught the headlines late this evening, after less than subtly insinuating that his side were the victims of corruption in their meeting with Real Madrid.
The subject of officiating has taken its place front and centre in the headlines in the Spanish media on Sunday night.
This comes after one of the more controversial outings of the campaign saw the aforementioned Real Madrid put bottom-of-the-table Almería to the sword at the Santiago Bernabéu.
After the evening’s visitors raced out to a shock two-goal advantage heading into the interval, Carlo Ancelotti’s troops turned the clash on its head, courtesy of goals on the part of all of Jude Bellingham, Vinícius Jr, and Dani Carvajal.
Real’s comeback, however, did not come without its fair share of contention.
First, Los Blancos were awarded what many felt was a soft penalty, before Almería saw their third of the night harshly overruled by VAR.
This was then followed by Vinícius Jr’s disallowed finish being given despite what looked a clear hand ball, setting the stage for a hefty 11 minutes of injury time, the 9th of which saw Carvajal bag a winner.
On the back of proceedings coming to a close in the Spanish capital, it should in turn come as little surprise to hear of fans, pundits and neutrals alike making their dismay known.
And, as alluded to above, such individuals have now been joined by a member of Almería’s defeated squad, too.
Asked for his take on what exactly transpired on Sunday night, Rojiblancos defender Marc Pubill was not at all shy in pointing towards some form of corruption as having been at play:
“I think that someone decided that we weren’t allowed to win here at the Bernabéu,” Pubill told DAZN, as cited by Fabrizio Romano.
“And that’s what happened. Nothing more to say.”
Conor Laird | GSFN
