By Ayomide Oriade
Current world footballer of the year, Cristiano Ronaldo has hit out at referee Alberto Undiano Mallenco after Real Madrid’s 4-3 defeat by Barcelona claiming he’s part of the forces conspiring against Madrid.
Real and Ronaldo were angered by the award of two Barcelona penalties, the first of which saw Sergio Ramos sent off before both were converted by hat-trick hero Lionel Messi. The defeat means Madrid slips to second on the log and one point ahead of Barcelona.
Ronaldo feels the officiating was plan of the plan to gift Barcelona the title. “We are sad because we knew we deserved more, but the fight goes on,” Ronaldo told the club’s official website.
“It is difficult because a lot of people did not want us to win and Barcelona would have been out of it. Maybe they don’t want Real Madrid to win this Liga. I’ve been here for five years, so I know how a lot of things are and I hope to win it regardless of this.
“It’s a feeling of sadness after being 3-2 up and controlling the game. The referee made some unbelievable decisions, but you have to carry on.”
Undiano Mallenco refereed at the 2010 World Cup, has extensive Champions League experience and was named Spain’s top referee in 2005 and 2007, last night’s match was his 9th in the El Clasico.
Ronaldo went ahead to berate the referee accusing him of being too nervous on such a big occasion. “There were a lot of errors in one match,” he said. “In a Real Madrid-Barcelona (match) you have to have a referee who is up to the game. I don’t want to look for excuses but if you look at the 90 minutes the referee made a lot of mistakes.
“Really bad. In my opinion he was not up to a match of this stature. I looked at him and he was pale, that’s because he was so nervous and he was unable to make the right decisions. Real Madrid is the biggest club and that creates a lot of envy around it. You can say that the treatment is the same, but it’s not.”
