"Someone decided we weren’t allowed to win today" - Almeria star reacts as Real Madrid defeat the Rojiblancos La 3-2 in La Liga fixture
Almeria star Marc Pubill expressed his disappointment following his side's crushing 3-2 loss against Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu on Sunday (January 21).
The visitors coasted into a two-goal lead thanks to strikes from Largie Ramazani (1') and Edgar Gonzalez (43') before the break. Los Blancos would half the deficit in the 57th minute, with Jude Bellingham scoring from the spot following a contentious handball call.
Soon after, the side at the bottom of the La Liga standings were denied a third for a foul in the build-up during the 61st minute. The Spanish giants would go on to score an equaliser that seemed to come off the top of Vinicius Junior's arm in the 67th minute.
They then found a late winner through Dani Carvajal within the 11 minutes of stoppage time that was awarded by the officials. Speaking after the match, Pubill told DAZN (via One Football):
“I think that someone decided that we weren’t allowed to win here at the Bernabeu. And that’s what happened. Nothing more to say.”
Following the win, Real Madrid are only a point behind surprise leaders Girona with a game in hand. Up next for Carlo Ancelotti's side is an away fixture against Las Palmas in La Liga on Saturday (January 27).
Carlo Ancelotti reacts to VAR decisions in Real Madrid's 3-2 win against Almeria
Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti has claimed that the video assistant referee (VAR) decisions made in his club's 3-2 win against Almeria on Sunday were all correct.
VAR awarded a foul that led to Jude Bellingham's penalty and disallowed a second-half goal from Almeria for an infringement in the build-up. The video assistant also allowed Vinicius Junior's goal, which seemingly struck the top of his hand, to stand.
Speaking after the match, Ancelotti said (via Managing Madrid):
“I understand Almería’s complaint. They were decisions reviewed by the VAR. I think there were three fairly clear decisions.”
On his side's performance, the former Everton boss added:
“It was a strange game. We played very poorly in the first half, with little energy. The evaluation I made was wrong, a tired team played and we did very poorly. Then the character of the team in our stadium made us come back from a difficult game with a totally different second half.”
Real Madrid are gearing up for a busy schedule that will see them play five matches in the span of 20 days. Los Blancos face Las Palmas, Getafe, Atletico Madrid and Girona in the league, and take on RB Leipzig in the UEFA Champions League round of 16.