Real Madrid still unhappy with LaLiga refs despite changes – source

• Alex Kirkland

• Rodrigo Faez

Sep 1, 2025, 11:39 AM ET

Real Madrid remain unhappy with LaLiga’s refereeing, a club source has told ESPN, after a weekend which saw them have three goals disallowed.

Meanwhile, rivals Barcelona and Atlético Madrid both benefitted — according to Madrid — from controversial decisions involving VAR.

Madrid beat Mallorca 2-1 at the Bernabéu on Saturday, despite Kylian Mbappé having two goals ruled out for offside, and Arda Güler having an effort disallowed for handball.

Spain’s refereeing body, the CTA, revamped its structure this summer in an effort to improve officiating — after frequent criticism from Madrid throughout last season — including changing its president, and its head of VAR.

A high-ranking Madrid source told ESPN that the club’s disquiet continues, although there is hope that tensions may ease, and the club’s complaints diminish, as the campaign develops.

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Another club source was reluctant to discuss the decisions Madrid has been subjected to in the season so far.

Madrid are the team with the most goals disallowed by VAR among Europe’s top five leagues in the period which spans last season, and the beginning of this one.

In 41 Madrid league matches, there have been 19 VAR interventions, resulting in nine goals being disallowed.

In second place, Villarreal, Bournemouth, Rennes and Venezia have all had seven goals overturned.

In Madrid’s victory over Mallorca on Saturday, there was one incident in particular which concerned the club: the decision to disallow Güler’s goal in the 57th minute.

Kylian Mbappé had two goals ruled out for offside vs. Mallorca. AP Photo/Manu Fernandez

The strike was ruled out because the ball struck Güler’s hand before goalkeeper Leo Román made a save, and the Turkish midfielder then dispatched the rebound.

A Madrid source said the club believe the rules — which state a goal should be disallowed in these cases if the handball is “immediate” — were misapplied, as the keeper’s intervention came between the handball and the eventual finish.

Referee José María Sánchez Martínez disallowed two more Madrid goals in the match, one for a marginal offside.

Madrid were also angered by what they argue were “clear refereeing mistakes” which benefited Atlético and Barça in their matches with Alavés and Rayo Vallecano, respectively.

Atlético drew 1-1 at Alavés, but the result could have been worse, with Giuliano Simeone’s goal wrongly given. The Argentinian forward was offside, with just one opposing player between him and the goal, earlier in the move which led to his seventh-minute finish.

In Barcelona’s 1-1 draw at Rayo, the VAR system was unavailable during the first half in Vallecas due to a technical issue.

The rules state that in those circumstances a game should continue, even if the VAR isn’t working, but a Madrid source described the situation as “scandalous” and believed the use of VAR would have ruled out Lamine Yamal’s penalty, which made it 1-0 to Barcelona.