Real Madrid star Vinicius hit out at the referee after their defeat to Man City in the first leg of their Champions League round-of-16 tie on Wednesday night.
The Spanish giants went ahead through Isco despite an impressive display from the visitors, but they couldn’t hold on to their advantage as things went desperately wrong in the latter stages.
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Gabriel Jesus drew City level and despite protests from the Real Madrid players for a push on Sergio Ramos, the goal was awarded.
Raheem Sterling was then brought down in the penalty area to allow Kevin De Bruyne to bag a second away goal at the Bernabeu, before Ramos was then sent off for bringing down Jesus as the last man.
In turn, the La Liga title-chasers will have it all to do in the return leg at the Etihad next month, but Vinicius was left fuming with the referee after the game, particularly over the decision to not go and check the incident involving Jesus for the first goal.
“Gabriel Jesus committed a foul in the first goal and everyone knows it. We have the VAR but the referee didn’t want to go and have a look at the play. I could see it from the sidelines and it was clear,” Vinicius told reporters, as quoted by AS.com.
“Referees always come here and make decisions against us on purpose, it’s always the same. We are the team that has won the most league titles and most Champions League, it will always be like this.”
In truth, although there was obvious contact, it looked like a minimal push from the City striker on Ramos, not enough to prevent the Real Madrid captain from getting up to challenge for the ball. That said, fouls have been given on countless occasions in that situation before.
The Sterling penalty was clear, and Ramos could ultimately have no arguments for his red card.
With that in mind, it’s questionable as to how much support Vinicius will get for his views on the key incidents which led to the defeat, as it sounds as though the frustration of the result got the better of him and he’ll now have to channel that in a better way to help turn things around in the second leg.