Barcelona head coach Xavi Hernández has this evening provided his take on the day’s controversies surrounding Real Madrid.
Carlo Ancelotti’s Real, of course, have found themselves centre stage in the European headlines over the course of the last few hours.
This comes after Los Blancos were the beneficiaries of a series of controversial decisions, en route to a last-gasp comeback victory over bottom-of-the-table Almería.
So one-sided did the officiating appear, in fact, that Almería defender Marc Pubill, during a post-match interview, pointed towards corruption being at play:
During his own press conference a short time ago, it therefore came as little surprise when the same subject was put to the aforementioned Xavi.
And the Barcelona boss – fresh off guiding his side to an impressive 4-2 win at Real Betis – did not exactly do much to play down Pubill’s insinuation.
“I have seen it, logically, but I stick with Garitano’s words,” he began. “If we speak they will sanction us, but everyone has seen what happened at the Santiago Bernabéu with Real Madrid and the refereeing. I already said in Getafe that there were things that did not fit and it is going to be very difficult to win this league.”
From here, Xavi went on to highlight some of the refereeing decisions which have harmed his side this season, adding:
“I remember Getafe, the resounding penalty against Raphinha in Vallecas, Joao Félix’s goal in Granada… We would have six more points.”
Conor Laird | GSFN
