It is a striking statistic — Real Madrid have already been shown nine yellow cards for dissent after seven games in this La Liga season, three more than any other team before this weekend’s fixtures and just five short of their total for last term. At this stage of the last campaign, they had two.
Things came to a head in their most recent game, a nervy 3-2 win against Deportivo Alaves at the Santiago Bernabeu on Tuesday night. Federico Valverde, Vinicius Junior and Luka Modric were all cautioned for protests against the backdrop of a febrile atmosphere in which fans sang chants against the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF).
Head coach Carlo Ancelotti said his side had to “adapt to the new rules” after that game — a reference to referees clamping down on dissent this season. In their previous match against Espanyol, Kylian Mbappe was shown a yellow after throwing a hand up in the air dismissively in the direction of referee Jose Luis Munuera Montero.
Refereeing is a hot topic in Spain and officiating controversy is never far away with Real Madrid. Last season, Jude Bellingham was given a two-match suspension for confronting referee Jesus Gil Manzano after a controversial decision to blow for full time as Madrid were attacking. Madrid were also investigated after criticising referees on their official TV channel before a game against Sevilla.
What has happened?
Football’s law-making body, the International Football Association Board, says a player can be cautioned for “dissent by word or action”, which includes “throwing/kicking drinks bottles or other objects” and “actions that show a clear lack of respect for the match officials eg, sarcastic clapping”.
Last season, La Liga teams were shown 258 yellow cards for dissent in 380 games, a rate of 0.68 per game. It is a small sample size, but there have already been 58 in 70 games this season, a rate of 0.83 per game. It is hard to ignore the jump.
That stems from Spanish referees taking those protests more seriously — more on that later. Madrid’s yellow cards for dissent this season are as follows and illustrate that new approach:
Madrid’s nine bookings for dissent
| Player | Game | Minute |
|---|---|---|
Dani Carvajal | Las Palmas (away) | After full time |
Vinicius Junior | Real Betis (home) | 59 |
Dani Carvajal | Real Betis (home) | 65 |
Kylian Mbappe | Espanyol (home) | 32 |
Jude Bellingham | Espanyol (home) | 81 |
Vinicius Junior | Espanyol (home) | 82 |
Federico Valverde | Deportivo Alaves (home) | 4 |
Vinicius Junior | Deportivo Alaves (home) | 30 |
Luka Modric | Deportivo Alaves (home) | 96 |
Vinicius Jr has been shown three cards for venting his frustration. Against Real Betis this month, he grappled with defender Youssouf Sabaly and threw his hands up when play went on. He was seen doing the same thing, pictured below, when Bellingham was brought down against Espanyol as he embarked on a dribble — the Englishman was also booked for protesting that decision and appeared to mouth an expletive towards referee Munuera Montero (an incident that went unreported).
Against Alaves, Vinicius Jr picked up a yellow card after centre-back Santiago Mourino swiped at him as he shaped to put in a cross (the match footage didn’t show his immediate reaction). He was perhaps lucky not to be shown a second yellow as he was replaced after 90 minutes, pointing at the fourth official and laughing as he showed six minutes of added time.
Dani Carvajal has received two yellow cards for dissent, one for approaching referee Mateo Busquets Ferrer after the full-time whistle of Madrid’s 1-1 draw at Las Palmas last month. Against Betis, the Spaniard was cautioned after Abde Ezzalzouli went down and won a free kick — seemingly without any contact from Carvajal, who then beat the ground in frustration. As he was shown a yellow card, Carvajal appeared to use a Spanish expletive.
The strangest incident was Mbappe’s yellow card around the half-hour mark in the Espanyol game.
The Frenchman was called offside after a long ball forward from Valverde. Mbappe waved his hand dismissively in the direction of Munuera Montero, who then called him over and repeated the gesture as he drew out his yellow card.
Why are Spanish refs doing this?
The clampdown on dissent stems from this summer’s European Championship in Germany, when a UEFA initiative was introduced so that only team captains could approach referees. Other players risked being booked if they did this.
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Sources from the RFEF — the organisation responsible for supplying referees for La Liga matches — said a letter was sent to officials in August informing them of changes for this season, including this rule. It added that protests are always punished if they are too strong — including those by club captains.
Those same sources — who, like all those mentioned in this article, wished to remain anonymous to protect relationships — also said they have not been surprised by the reaction coming out of Madrid.
How have Real Madrid reacted?
Badly, as you might expect.
The club’s official TV channel, Real Madrid TV, summed up the performance of referee Alejandro Muniz Ruiz in the Alaves game as follows: “Rubbish refereeing. Abuse of authority, defiant, arrogant attitude.”
Comments were also made casting doubt on the system. “Something is cooking,” one of the channel’s reporters said. “They are not bad at refereeing, they are refereeing under suspicion. The issue of cards is serious and at the rate we are going… Real Madrid is facing a regime.”
Even the production of the match was supposedly under suspicion. “The filmmakers have developed a story,” they continued. “Mediapro’s production (the company responsible for La Liga broadcasts), which is going to be shown on TV, has been going on for a few years now and at RMTV we want to put an end to this form of manipulation.”
Ancelotti has struck a more pragmatic tone in press conferences (Jose Breton/Pics Action/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Madrid fans have been even more vocal in their criticism of referees since it emerged that Barcelona made payments of €7.3million to the former vice-president of Spanish football’s refereeing committee, Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira. He and Barca have denied the payments he received constitute any wrongdoing, with the club saying he was hired as an “external consultant” who provided reports “related to professional refereeing”.
There have been regular chants of “Corruption in the federation!” at the Bernabeu when referees make controversial decisions. There were also cries of “Negreira, Negreira!” during the match against Alaves, when the mood became much more heated. Both chants came from the main supporters’ stand in the south end of the stadium, overseen by the club, but were accompanied by much of the Bernabeu.
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But Madrid sources think that not everyone is so incensed. Ancelotti has been more pragmatic — although he has complained to referees after the final whistle in his side’s last two games.
“We have to get used to it and we haven’t got used to it,” he said. “We have been shown yellow cards three or four times for protesting and we have to avoid that. Fair or unfair, we have to adapt to the new rules.”
What about the other clubs?
Barcelona and Atletico Madrid, Real’s two biggest rivals, do not seem to have been as affected by the clampdown.
Barca were shown 14 yellow cards for dissent in the 2023-24 season and, before last night’s match against Osasuna, had been shown two this campaign. Atletico were shown 13 for similar offences last term but Diego Simeone’s team have been cautioned once for protesting this season.
Additional contributor: Thom Harris
(Top photo: Florencia Tan Jun/Getty Images)
