If Real Madrid won the match against Sevilla, they would have gone to the top of La Liga and would be in the driving seat. But the referee gave a handball for Eder Militao, who touched the ball while jumping for the header with his head in the opposite direction of the ball. He didn’t saw the ball, and it hit his hand, and Madrid got a counterattack, and Benzema was stopped by Sevilla goalkeeper Bono illegally and was deemed a clear penalty.
However, the referee adjudged it was Militao’s handball and gave a penalty to Sevilla as Real Madrid felt robbed of the opportunity and it was mainly because earlier the ball hit Diego Carlos’s hand in the Sevilla penalty box. Still, the referee overlooked it and didn’t even mind checking it out.
Read: The inconsistencies in handball rule can ruin football, experts think
This exact decision has received heavy criticism from all the football experts. Now, Real Madrid’s Toni Kroos has also opened up about the controverisal incident.
Kroos said on the Einfach Mal Luppen podcast: “I’m not someone who likes to moan, but, in that case, I was extremely annoyed,”
“Zidane never really says anything about decisions and he always protects the referees. So, the fact that he went to the referee after the game was a sign that he too felt a little ripped off, as did I.”
“The referee tried to justify himself, but it’s a very clear wrong decision in my opinion.”
“My opinion is very clear and it is very rare that I disagree with the referee at all. I did on that day.”
“If you feel you’re being disadvantaged, that’s one thing where I say ‘it’s not on’.”
“[Militao] had his back to the ball and didn’t even see the ball, while in slow motion you can see that the ball first goes to his shoulder and then to his arm. We were told that if the ball ricochets off another part of the body, then it’s not a handball.”
“To look at it again and to revise it, because he didn’t whistle it live, is a serious intervention in the championship.”
“If, in the end, we don’t have enough [to win the title] in my opinion this was a situation that also contributed to it. For me this is clearly a situation that had an influence.”
“It’s not about being bitter, it’s about being angry.”
