The refereeing in the La Liga 30th matchday clash between Barcelona and Atlético Madrid did not go unnoticed on Saturday evening. After returning from the dressing rooms, with the Colchoneros down a man, Gerard Martin stamped his studs on Thiago Almada's ankle and was shown a straight red card. The decision seemed undeniable given the reckless challenge... yet it was overturned by VAR.Summoned by his assistants, Mateo Busquets Ferrer ultimately rescinded the red card for the Barcelona player, issuing only a yellow card after reviewing the replay.
"There's not much to say"
That was enough for the controversy to escalate, both at the Metropolitano and on social media, where no one understood the Spanish referee's decision to reverse his initial call.Following his side's 1-2 defeat to the Blaugrana, Atlético manager Diego Simeone did not hide his annoyance to DAZN."I prefer not to listen. Let's not talk about the incident, it's not worth it. Let's not waste our time, let's talk about what matters. Everyone will say what they think... When the foul is this obvious, there's no need to talk," he reacted, before expanding on it later in the press conference.
That evening, the official account of the Madrid club also criticized the league's refereeing, posting a photo of Gerard Martin's foul and an explanatory video from the Technical Committee of Referees (CTA) regarding a similar foul during Betis vs Rayo Vallecano last February.While the match referee did not award a penalty, the CTA stated that a red card should have been shown to the offending player."Hadn't this already been reviewed?" Atlético Madrid wrote on X, questioning the Committee to highlight the inconsistency in overturning Gerard Martin's red card weeks later for an identical foul.
At the press conference, Diego Simeone also referenced the similar incident."There's not much to say, the action is clear. He arrives late, steps on his foot, his entire ankle, but well, we can only hope the CTA reviews it properly so that if it happens again next week, whether it goes in our favour or not, the situation is clear," the Argentine explained.
For its part, the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) released the communications between the head referee and his video assistant during Gerard Martin's foul.According to the VAR officials, the Blaugrana player "played the ball, and contact with the Atlético Madrid player occurred naturally", thus not warranting a straight red card.
