Diego Simeone Accuses Real Madrid of 100 Years of Favoritism

During Real Madrid’s 5-2 win over Celta Vigo in the Round of 16 of the Copa del Rey, a seemingly clear penalty went unawarded by the referee, sparking widespread debate post-game. Diego Simeone, however, was unsurprised by the controversy, implying that such moments in Real Madrid games have been occurring for over 100 years.

Thursday’s fixture should not have been as nervy for the 69,000 fans in attendance at the Santiago Bernabeu. Celta Vigo started strongly, creating several promising chances.

In the 35th minute, Williot Swedberg, who joined the Galician club in 2022, broke through on goal and attempted to round goalkeeper Andriy Lunin. However, he tripped, seemingly due to Lunin’s hands making contact with his feet.

Typically, such incidents warrant a clear-cut penalty. However, referee Munuera Montero allowed play to continue, and Kylian Mbappé scored Real Madrid’s opener just seconds later.

Although there was a brief VAR review, the officials ruled it as a dive by Swedberg, prompting outrage from the Celta Vigo fanbase—and, surprisingly, Barcelona supporters as well.

Simeone, who appeared for a press conference on Friday ahead of Atletico Madrid’s game against local team Leganes on the weekend, had a rather nonchalant view. When asked if he saw that a ‘clear’ penalty had been denied, he responded,

“Refereeing controversy at Bernabeu yesterday? I didn’t watch the game. They told me about some incidents that happened during the match… but it’s been like that for 100 years now. I don’t know what surprises you.”

It was a rather direct dig at Real Madrid from Diego Simeone, whose side have won 14 games in a row and currently sit atop La Liga. He didn’t hold back, with refereeing decisions favoring Real Madrid often being a topic of widespread criticism in Spain.

The foul on Swedberg, at least from the VAR footage, appeared to involve Lunin’s hand. However, there was a possibility that the Swede was already diving before making contact with the Ukrainian goalkeeper. The fact that on-field referee Montero didn’t even take a second look at it raised several eyebrows.

Real Madrid went into halftime 1-0 ahead, with Vinícius Júnior doubling the lead shortly after the restart. From there, Madrid seemed to be in control.

That was until Celta scored twice in 10 minutes, with the latter goal coming from a penalty after Raúl Asencio’s foul inside the box during stoppage time. Marcos Alonso converted the spot-kick to send the game into extra time.

Celta were hopeful of scripting a historic win in the Spanish capital, but Real Madrid substitutes Endrick and Federico Valverde combined to score three goals between them, sealing a 5-2 victory for Los Blancos.

Real Madrid’s quarter-final opponents will be revealed on Monday during the draw.

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