footballCristiano Ronaldo’s 2018 Reflection That Exposes What Happened Yesterday

The words of the Portuguese footballer have gained special significance after Jude Bellingham’s expulsion.

One of the controversial actions of the Osasuna-Real Madrid match is the direct red card expulsion of Jude Bellingham. Barely half an hour had passed in the match at El Sadar when Munuera Montero, without a word, decided to show the red card to the ‘5’ of the white club and remove him from the match. That decision has sparked all kinds of opinions regarding what happened.

The words that the English midfielder directed at the field referee have also been thoroughly analyzed, as well as the referee’s report written by Munuera Montero at the end of the match. “In the 40th minute, the player Jude Bellingham was expelled for the following reason: For addressing me, being a few meters away, in the following terms: ‘fuck you’”.

A referee shows a red card to a player during a match.

That decision made by Munuera Montero, later reflected in the referee’s report in this way, creates certain inconsistencies with the images captured by the cameras. In that brief conversation, the English ‘5’ expressed his disagreement with the applied refereeing criteria: “How are you going to call that foul, if that’s a foul, then that’s a penalty. I’m speaking to you with respect, fuck off,” said the white player to the Andalusian committee referee.

Such words were spoken right in front of Munuera Montero himself, who immediately showed the direct red card to the Real Madrid footballer. The controversy continues to unfold while some remember what Cristiano Ronaldo, a player in Spain for nine years, said about the referees in our country. In his interview before the Champions League final held in Kiev 2018, a match that Real Madrid would win to achieve the Thirteenth and complete an irreplicable glorious cycle.

Interesting Memory

“In England, players tell referees ‘fuck off’ and the referees don’t take it as an insult”, noted the former ‘7’ merengue in his chat with Josep Pedrerol. Due to his considerable experience in both LaLiga and the Premier League, Cristiano Ronaldo left a piece of advice that has clearly gone unnoticed since then. “The referee in Spain has to be a bit more flexible, like in England”, the Portuguese striker stated.

Those words came as a result of his expulsion, early in the season, at Spotify Camp Nou. Real Madrid won the Spanish Super Cup 17/18, played in the old format, thanks to a cathedral performance by the ‘7’ in both matches. But he couldn’t complete the match at Les Corts field after a tense exchange with Ricardo de Burgos Bengoetxea, which caused much anger in the club and fans.

A smiling man in a blue soccer jersey with a white jersey hanging in the background.

While it is true that Cristiano Ronaldo made a fatal mistake by pushing the field referee, his words narrating that clash can be fully applied to Bellingham’s situation. Especially when the English ‘5’ did not touch Munuera Montero at any time, who approached him before showing him the red card… and the way to the El Sadar locker rooms shortly after half an hour into the match.

Once again, Real Madrid, after a particularly intense few weeks, is affected by refereeing controversy. The executives led by Florentino Pérez sent a letter last Monday, addressed to RFEF and the CSD, urging to regenerate the refereeing collective. This proposal, as seen with LaLiga’s complaint, doesn’t seem to have resonated among the same clubs that then complain match after match.