Carlo Ancelotti has hit back at LaLiga president Javier Tebas’ claim that Real Madrid have “lost their minds” with their referee complaints, saying the club want “to improve things” and “to change a system they don’t like.”
Madrid filed a formal complaint with the Spanish football federation [RFEF] earlier this week, furious at the decision not to send off Espanyol defender Carlos Romero — who later scored the winning goal — for a challenge on Kylian Mbappé in Madrid’s 1-0 defeat at the RCDE Stadium last Saturday.
Speaking at a meeting of LaLiga clubs with the RFEF and refereeing body the CTA — which Madrid opted not to attend — on Thursday, Tebas said Madrid had “lost their minds” on the issue, saying the club had “constructed a narrative of victimhood.”
“It’s something that I’d prefer not to discuss before such an important game,” Ancelotti said in a news conference on Friday, ahead of Real’s crucial derby with title rivals Atlético Madrid at the Santiago Bernabéu. “But Tebas can stay calm. Nobody here has lost their minds. We’ve asked for an explanation of what happened, to try to improve things, to try to change the system.”
Madrid have asked the federation to release the audio recordings of conversations between on-field referee Alejandro Muñiz Ruiz and video assistant referee Javier Iglesias Villanueva around the Mbappé foul, and also an earlier disallowed goal from VinÃcius Júnior.
Ancelotti said that request had so far gone unheeded, despite RFEF president Rafael Louzan saying on Thursday that the federation had “nothing to hide.”
“From what I hear, nobody is happy [with referees],” Ancelotti said. “People think it’s a system that favours Real Madrid, but when Real Madrid want to change it, everyone is against it. That surprises me a bit … We haven’t received [the audio]. I don’t know why they don’t want to give it to us. You’d have to ask them.”
Rivals Atlético have increased the temperature ahead of Saturday’s derby with posts on social media, accusing Real of “putting pressure on referees” with their television channel, Real Madrid TV, highlighting errors from officials.
In Thursday’s pre-match news conference Atleti manager Diego Simeone took another jab at Real Madrid.
“I’m not thinking about what the referee is going to do, but rather what we’re going to do,” Simeone said in a news conference on Friday. “We’re thinking about the game we have to play … I’m focused on the game, you [the media] need answers to this controversy, but I’m focused on the game.”
When asked if Madrid put pressure on referees, Ancelotti said: “Not as far as I know. Real Madrid want to change a system that they don’t like … We’ve only asked for the audio. Sometimes it’s been released, and sometimes it hasn’t. We haven’t asked for anything secret.”
Ancelotti said he’s focused on finding an effective balance between his team’s world-class attack of Mbappé, VinÃcius, Jude Bellingham and Rodrygo, and a makeshift defence which has been hit hard by injuries.
“The four in attack have scored around 60 goals, which is a lot,” Ancelotti said. “We have an emergency in defence. They’ve done a fantastic job in attack, but the team needs their defensive help too.
“Sometimes we’ve lacked a bit of balance in the team. Some people think removing a forward could fix that, but I don’t think it’s like that. It’s a collective problem, including the forwards, the midfield and the defence.”
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