Real Madrid's Rodrygo questions La Liga referees officiating

Rodrygo will be playing for Brazil at the World Cup in Qatar, but prior to his departure the 21-year-old forward spoke about resent issues regarding La Liga referees.

In their last three La Liga matches, Los Blancos have dropped a total of five points - against Girona, Rayo Vallecano and Cadiz. Following those games Thibaut Courtois and coach Carlo Ancelotti complained about the referees, including Vinicius Junior who voiced his frustrations while on the pitch.

In an interview carried by Diario AS, Rodrygo was questioned about Real Madrid's recent drop in form, he replied: "The defeat at Vallecas hurt us a lot. We were not up to it.

"And neither did referee allow us to be ourselves. Both Vini and I have suffered attacks in these last two games and the referees, very bad for not punishing them. They allow everything," Rodrygo stressed.

"I already said that it was a shame what happened to me with Fali and that the VAR didn't say anything either. He looked at me and hit me, it was not an incident. I don't know what the VAR is for. But we are self-critical.

"That night in Vallecas we didn't play well. I think we could have been playing all night against Rayo and we wouldn't have won."

The 'Fali incident' being referred to is over a potential red card when the Cadiz defender went for Rodrygo in an off-the-ball clash.

In the interview, Rodrygo was later asked if he thought referees were favouring Barcelona in their decisions, which damaged Real Madrid. But the forward said he did not want to delve too much into the referee 'blame game'.

"I don't really like to talk about the referees but it has been difficult in the last match-days before the break," Rodrygo explained.

"For rivals everything is easier than for Madrid. We talked about it in the locker room and we don't know what's going on. It's kind of strange. With us they are not doing very well. Let's see if things change when we return.

"In my disallowed goal against Girona, I no longer know which rule applies. For some it is a legal goal and others say it is a foul."

Real were in cruise mode in La Liga prior to the last three results, but now find themselves two points behind Barcelona on the league table after 14 games.