Barcelona vs Real Madrid: Antonio Rudiger attacks referee, gets red card in Copa final-OxBig News Network

Things turned ugly in the Real Madrid vs Barcelona Copa del Rey final on Saturday as defender Antonio Rudiger attacked the referee in the dying minutes of the match. Rudiger lost the plot after Barcelona scored a late winner, throwing a bag full of ice, targeting the referee’s head.

The Real Madrid defender was fuming with rage after the late goal and had to be stopped by his teammates. Four members of the Real Madrid coaching staff held Rudiger back, as the entire bench protested against a possible foul on Kylian Mbappe in the final moments of the match.

Scenes turned ugly at the Estadio de La Cartuja in Seville after the referee blew the final whistle in extra time, with Barcelona leading 3-2 against Real Madrid.

The match officials took note of the incident and not only handed a red card to Rudiger, but also gave marching orders to Lucas Vazquez and Jude Bellingham. Out of the three players, only Bellingham was on the field when the final whistle was blown.

Rudiger now faces a possible multi-game suspension for throwing a bag full of ice at the referee and protesting aggressively in the final moments. Referee Ricardo de Burgos Bengoechea wrote in his match report that Rudiger “threw an object from the coaching area that didn’t reach me,” adding that the Madrid defender displayed “an aggressive attitude.”

BARCELONA vs REAL MADRID: REFEREEING CONTROVERSY

Controversy had struck before the Copa del Rey final. Madrid had hit out against the match officials who were going to officiate the final of the tournament, accusing them of having “animosity and hostility” towards the club. Madrid had urged the Spanish FA to take action and even boycotted the pre-match press conference.

Madrid’s statements came after a distressed Ricardo de Burgos Bengoetxea addressed a press conference to call out a video highlight made by Real Madrid TV targeting the previous mistakes of the referee against the club.

De Burgos expressed his distress over making a video package like that and said, “When a child arrives at school and his mates tell him that his father is a thief, it makes you sick.”

He went on to emphasise his integrity and the challenges faced by many officials, in professional football and at the grassroots level.

“What I do is try to educate my son to tell him that his father is an honest man, that he makes mistakes like any other sportsman. It’s very hard, I don’t recommend it to anyone.

“It is not right what we are going through for many colleagues… Let everyone reflect on where we want to go, on what we want from sport and from football.”