BEVERLY HILLS, May 10, (THEWILL) – The opportunity was there at the summit of La Liga for Zinedine Zidane’s Real Madrid to seize control of the league by scaling over long-time League leaders Atletico Madrid and Catalan side Barcelona especially after the two could only settle for a goalless stalemate at their fixture on Saturday. But, Real let the opportunity slip.
In what could become the contention of the match, Real boss Zinedine Zidane was left enraged with referee Juan Martinez Munuera and his officials as Los Blancos ended the tie against fourth-placed side Sevilla, with a 2-2 draw of their own at the Estadio Alfredo Di Stefano.
Real was on the verge of leaving the match with no points at all until a 94th minute goal from their German midfield star Toni Kroos prevented that from completely ruining their title run so late in the campaign and wasting all the efforts that have brought them so far.
However, the referee inserted himself into the talking point of the match with the inconsistency of his decisions surrounding penalty kicks: he overturned one, in Real’s case and instead awarded the penalty in Sevilla’s favour after a VAR review.
It so happened that the hosts had seemingly earned themselves a chance to go 2-1 up as Karim Benzema led a counterattack and was brought down in the Sevilla box by Yassine Bounou. The referee initially blew for a Real penalty before conferring with the video assistant referee.
Bizarrely, the VAR review overturned the decision because a handball offence by Eder Militao was spotted at the other end in the build-up of the move that led to the penalty offence involving Bounou and Benzema. Ivan Rakitic then converted the spot-kick that was subsequently awarded to Sevilla to give them the lead.
It so incensed Real French manager Zidane that he furiously claimed at full-time that it was a decision that could potentially cost the defending champions the title this season.
In his post-match remarks, Zidane was still fuming: “I don’t understand anything from the referee. If there is a Militao handball, it is a Sevilla handball as well.
“I am not convinced by what he told me. I never speak about referees, but today I am angry. We deserved more because the second half was spectacular from my team and we’re going to fight to the death until the end.”
Unfortunately, the result still stands as the draw effectively hands the title advantage back to city rivals Atletico Madrid and will be a huge relief for Diego Simeone’s side especially after their low key 0-0 draw away at Barcelona on Saturday was bewailed for giving Real this golden chance to jump ahead.
It has been a good run of games in this final stretch of the season for Zidane’s charges. Madrid have not lost in their last 15 La Liga games, winning 10 and drawing five. The 2-2 draw was the first time they did not keep a clean sheet in their last five matches. Only on one previous occasion, in July 2020, have they kept five consecutive clean sheets in the competition with Zidane as head coach.
As for conceding penalties, Madrid have conceded eight in La Liga this season. It represents their joint-highest tally in a single campaign since at least 2003-04, although they also conceded eight in the 2018-19 campaign.
Simeone’s side Los Rojiblancos now have a two point lead over both Zidane’s side and Ronald Koeman’s Barcelona with just three games left to play in the 2020/2021 campaign. It promises to be a nail-biting finish in general as any the trio all can still go on to clinch the title this season.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
