Details of Real Madrid's cards against Villarreal reveal the truth about refereeing complaints

Real Madrid complained about the refereeing decisions during their 1-0 victory over Villarreal, pointing to their players receiving five yellow cards and one red card despite the team committing only eight fouls. However, the newspaper "Mundo Deportivo" clarified that these figures do not reflect the full picture.

The Spanish newspaper reported that Real Madrid and its fans compared the number of cards received by the team to those received by Villarreal, who committed 13 fouls compared to eight for the royal team, and received only two yellow cards.

However, the red card received by Vinicius Junior for pulling the hair of a Villarreal player was deserved according to the laws of the game, and no one inside Real Madrid believes that referee Díaz de Mera made a mistake with this decision.

Regarding the five yellow cards received by Real Madrid players, "Mundo Deportivo" clarified that only two were due to fouls, those of Jude Bellingham and Konaté. The club intends to appeal against the French defender's card, arguing that his challenge on Gerard Moreno did not warrant a booking.

The other three yellow cards were issued to Antonio Rüdiger for dissent, and Kylian Mbappé and Aurélien Tchouaméni for time-wasting. Additionally, José Mourinho and Chindo, the team's manager, received two yellow cards for protesting the referee's decisions.

The newspaper explained that Real Madrid's protests also resulted in the dismissal of Nuno da Costa, José Mourinho's assistant. Counting the players and coaching staff, Real Madrid received seven yellow cards, five of which were for dissent, along with two red cards, one for Vinicius Junior and the other for Nuno da Costa.