Atletico Madrid bemused by referee call during Madrid derby | OneFootball

Atletico Madrid would have been the happier of the two teams after Saturday’s Madrid derby, which ended 1-1 at the Santiago Bernabeu. However, there will still have been a feeling of disappointment for Diego Simeone’s side, who missed out on their chance to leapfrog Real Madrid to go back to the top of La Liga.

Julian Alvarez had given Atleti the lead from the penalty spot, but that was cancelled out by Kylian Mbappe a few minutes into the second half. However, the visitors were feeling hard done by even before both of these goals went in.

Midway through the first half, Dani Ceballos was booked for a strong challenge on Pablo Barrios. The decision was not reviewed by VAR, which some believed was the wrong call to make. And at Atleti, they have also questioned the decision of referee Cesar Soto Grado and the officials in the VAR room, as per Diario AS.

Diego Simeone remained neutral when he spoke to the media post-match (Photo by Florence Tan Jun/Getty Images)

Atleti head coach Diego Simeone did not call out Soto Grado or VAR over the incident, as he declared that both had “a correct game”. However, there are officials within Los Colchoneros that are confused by the decision.

The report notes that Atleti do support the referees behind closed doors, but that does not take away from their bewilderment at the incident involving Ceballos and Barrios. Specifically, they are also confused at the response of Real Madrid, who have ignored the matter despite complaining furious about a similar incident last weekend with Kylian Mbappe and Espanyol defender Carlos Romero.

It will be interesting to see whether there is further discussion on the possible red card to Ceballos. Atleti feel that Real Madrid got away with that moment, although they do not complain too much as they are happy with the point they received at the Bernabeu.