VAR forgives Mastantuono's red card in Real Madrid vs Espanyol
Published New:21/09/2025 - 09:18h
Updated New:21/09/2025 - 09:35h
Mastantuono impacted Carlos Romero's head with his cleats in a high-risk play. And the referee only showed a yellow card!
Real Madrid defeated Espanyol 2-0 at the Bernabéu thanks to goals from Éder Militao and Kylian Mbappé. However, the victory was marked by a very controversial action in the second half, when Argentine Franco Mastantuono should have been sent off after a very hard impact on Espanyol's Carlos Romero.
Mastantuono's action should have left Xabi Alonso's team with ten players during the final stretch of the match. Instead, the Whites maintained numerical superiority and ended up closing out the victory that keeps them at the top of the LaLiga standings.
Mastantuono's tackle could have changed the outcome of the match
The play occurred in the 74th minute. In his attempt to contest a divided ball, the former River Plate player raised his left leg excessively and ended up hitting the Espanyol full-back's head with his cleats.
The Torrent player fell to the ground with a bloody face and had to be attended to immediately by the Pericos' medical services. Despite the severity of the impact, the referee only showed a yellow card after reviewing it on VAR.
Espanyol denounces lack of arbitration protection
From the Espanyol bench, the indignation was evident. The action on Romero not only forced him to temporarily leave the field to be attended to, but also highlighted what, in the opinion of many, was a clear expulsion for dangerous play.
The Perica board does not rule out filing a formal complaint with the Technical Committee of Referees to ask for explanations about the criteria used by the referee and the VAR in the face of such a clear and dangerous play.
The controversial arbitration decision will continue to be talked about in the coming days, reinforcing an increasingly intense debate about the need to apply a uniform criterion in VAR reviews.
