Real Madrid believe Barcelona manager Xavi Hernandez's influence led to controversial incident against Valencia

Real Madrid is still reeling from the controversy surrounding it its 2-2 with Valencia on Saturday night. Jude Bellingham thought he had scored a 99th minute winner, but referee Jesus Gil Manzano blew the whistle for full time a second before the ball ends up in the back of the net.

Los Blancos believe that it is no coincidence that this happened to them. According to AS Diary, Those who are in the club are “aware of many controversies that have happened in recent days, detrimental to them, and favorable to Barcelona”. They believe this came about because of comments made by Xavi Hernandez and Joan Laporta last month, in which they both referred to La Liga as “adulterated”.

Prominent figures in Real Madrid believe that they are destined to allow Barcelona to close the gap in the race for the title. A win for the Catalans against Athletic Club on Sunday would see them move within six points of their Clasico rivals.

You can certainly understand that frustration Real Madrid feel towards the events that happened on Saturday, even though Gil Manzano technically did nothing wrong in the full-time whistle when he did – at least according to the rule book.