Football players in action during a match, one in a blue and red uniform being held by a player in yellow, and another in a white uniform being held by a player in blue.

'This is How Madrid Wins.' Barça Locker Room Can't Believe It: 'Impossible to Win'

In the Barça-Las Palmas game, a penalty like Rüdiger's was not awarded. Madrid has 6 penalties for and none against

02/12/2024 13:00:00h

Barça is coming off a bad streak of fitness, results and refereeing. The players have the feeling that, either they win by a landslide against their rivals or they don't win at all.

The goal disallowed for Lewandowski in Anoeta due to offside, which was only seen by the VAR, is added to others. The penalty not called in Balaídos and two that the referee didn't want to award against Las Palmas.

Two soccer players in action during a match, one in a blue uniform and the other in a white uniform on a playing field.

Rüdiger was awarded a penalty for the kind of foul he commits every game, which are not called | TV

Three consecutive negative results. Three refereeing performances that the Barça locker room considers adverse.

At the same time, Real Madrid has begun to hunt down Barça by taking advantage of refereeing opportunities. An example is the penalty against Getafe that Rüdiger forced when he struggled with Nyom.

In the blaugrana locker room, they know Rüdiger well. It is said that, like the foul the German center-back received, he makes three of those in each game and they are never called.

Football players on the field during a match, with one preparing to take a penalty.

Real Madrid needs penalties to improve their results | Getty Images

The overall balance is terrifying. It turns out that the team that steps into the goal the most and scores the most goals has received half as many penalties in its favor as the second-placed team, Real Madrid.

In 15 games, Barça has scored almost one more goal per game than Real Madrid. However, they've been awarded 3 penalties in their favor compared to 6 for Real Madrid.

Real Madrid: 6 Penalties for, 0 against

To top it all, Real Madrid has never experienced a penalty against them, even though Rüdiger is used to committing fouls like the one against Getafe that earned him a penalty.

This is the reality that doesn't go unnoticed in the Barça locker room and is a topic of conversation among its players.

What's more, the referee who decided in the Real Madrid-Getafe game was Hernández Hernández. The same one who took away a league title from Barça (in the Negreira era) by disallowing a goal by Luis Suárez after he entered a meter inside the goal.

A soccer player on the ground inside the penalty area while another player attempts to clear the ball near the goal line.

The same referee and two mistakes. One of them hurts Barça and the other one benefits Real Madrid | @MovistarFutbol

The images left him exposed and years later he admitted his mistake. A mistake which seriously damaged Barça, to the point of depriving it of the La Liga title.

Barça claimed two penalties against Las Palmas, against Cubarsí and Pau Vícor. With a record of 3 in favor and 2 against, they are favored with +1. Real Madrid with +6, and only 15 games have been played.

➡️ F.C. Barcelona