Real Madrid TV Critiques Referee Over Mbappé Penalty Incident

The new La Liga season has barely begun, and already one decision is dominating the debate. Real Madrid’s official television channel has launched a ferocious attack on the refereeing of their 1-0 defeat to Real Betis, insisting Kylian Mbappé’s stoppage‑time penalty should have been retaken.

The flashpoint came deep into added time. Moments after Carlos Espi saw a Real Madrid goal ruled out, Mbappé stepped up from the spot in the 94th minute with the chance to salvage a point. His effort was saved by the Betis goalkeeper. The Bernabéu side’s players immediately surrounded the referee, claiming Betis defenders had encroached into the area before the Frenchman struck the ball.

The referee waved away the protests, treating it as an issue of interpretation. No retake. No VAR intervention to overturn the on‑field call. Seconds later, the match was over: Betis 1, Real Madrid 0.

That was only the beginning.

Spanish newspaper AS reported that the incident has already become one of the most heated talking points of the opening rounds of La Liga. Real Madrid’s own television channel then escalated the row, dissecting the penalty frame by frame and accusing the referee of a “technical error” and a “contradiction” of the laws.

According to the channel’s analysis, one Betis defender had his right foot on the penalty area line at the exact moment Mbappé struck the ball, stepping fully into the area immediately after. Real Madrid TV argued that this movement “directly affected the outcome of the play”. It also highlighted Héctor Bellerín, claiming he too had a foot on the line when the kick was taken.

The language was blistering. The club channel expressed its astonishment “that a referee does not know his own regulations”, insisting the decision not to order a retake was simply wrong under the letter of the law. “This is a technical error,” it declared, accusing the referee of either “oversight or incompetence” in failing to sanction what it considered a clear infringement during the taking of the penalty.

The criticism did not stop at the single incident. Real Madrid TV drew a pointed comparison with their great rivals, suggesting that if the same situation had involved Barcelona, the outcome would have been different. “Had this happened with Barcelona, the penalty would have been retaken,” the channel claimed. “And had Espi’s goal been for Barcelona, perhaps it would not have been disallowed.”

The refereeing team, for its part, maintained that Marc Bartra did not step on the line and therefore did not commit an offence. Real Madrid’s channel pushed back hard on that defence, countering that even if Bartra never actually touched the line, he still charged forward early and intervened directly in the play, which in its view should also have been penalised.

One match, one missed retake, and one furious club channel. The season is only just underway, but the temperature around refereeing decisions in Spain has already been turned up to boiling point.