Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti criticises referee after Manchester City stalemate

Oscar Sanders
10 May 2023

Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti has slammed the referee after his side's 1-1 draw with Manchester City in the first leg of their Champions League semifinal.

Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti has blasted the referee for a perceived mistake made in the build-up to Manchester City midfielder Kevin de Bruyne's equaliser in the sides' 1-1 draw at the Santiago Bernabeu on Tuesday night.

De Bruyne's scorcher cancelled out an almost equally ferocious strike from Vinicius Jr as the two heavyweights could not be separated.

De Bruyne's strike did not come without its fair share of controversy, though, as the ball appeared to go out in the build-up with Ancelotti subsequently being yellow-carded for his vehement protests.

"It looked like [the ball] was out," the Italian tactician told Movistar. "And before that, there was a corner which [the referee] didn't give. The referee wasn't very attentive. He gave me a yellow card, and I said, 'Give them on the pitch, not off it!'

"It was out. It's not me saying it; the technology does," Ancelotti added in his postmatch news conference. "It surprises me. They're small details, but the referee wasn't attentive. The players deserved more cards on the pitch, not [me] off the pitch."

"[The feeling] is good," he said. "We competed, we fought and maybe we deserved to win. It was a good game. The result doesn't give us our reward, but this tie will be even until the last minute."