Real Madrid follow Barcelona in complaining to Uefa
- Published
Real Madrid and Barcelona will make formal complaints to Uefa about each other's actions during their fiery Champions League semi-final first leg.
Barca, who beat 10-man Real 2-0 at the Bernabeu, were upset by Real coach Jose Mourinho's suggestion that they are favourably treated by referees.
Real have responded by claiming Barca tried to mislead the referee with "repeated unsportsmanlike behaviour".
The second leg is due to be played on Tuesday, 3 May at the Nou Camp.
Both clubs have already been charged by Uefa, external over incidents that occurred during the first leg.
Real are in the dock for the dismissals of midfielder Pepe and Mourinho, the latter's post-match outburst and the behaviour of their fans during Wednesday's match.
Barcelona have been charged over the red card shown to reserve keeper Jose Pinto at half-time.
The already heightened emotions surrounding the match were further inflamed by Mourinho after the game.
"It's clear that against Barcelona you have no chance," said the Real boss after their home defeat.
"I don't know if it's the publicity of Unicef [the club's shirt sponsor], I don't know if it's because they are very nice, but they've got this power."
Barcelona held a board meeting to consider Mourinho's comments and on Thursday spokesman Toni Freixa said the Catalan club believed Mourinho has "crossed the line" with his comments.
"We want to stand firm when the war of words passes certain limits," Freixa added.
"We are going to present a case to Uefa's control and disciplinary committee against Mr Mourinho for breaking Uefa's disciplinary code."
Later on Thursday, Real issued a statement on their website, external which said they were complaining to Uefa about the "unsportsmanlike behaviour" of Barcelona during Wednesday's game.
Real Madrid added that they were "obligated to follow suit" following the "unprecedented decision by Barcelona to lodge a formal complaint against Mourinho".
The statement continued that Barcelona's players "consistently feigned aggressions with the sole purpose of misleading the referee of the match, which clearly led to the unfair decision to dismiss our player Pepe".
The Bernabeu giants also stated that they are fully supporting Mourinho over his comments.
On Friday, Barcelona responded to the statement by claiming that Real Madrid had no grounds to report the Catalan club and added that they think their fierce rivals have fallen under the spell of Mourinho.
"What Madrid did yesterday is adhere to something that has already been judged [by the referees]," Barcelona vice-president Carles Villarubi told radio station RAC1.
"Uefa, represented by the four officials at the game, has already made its judgement on this topic, so Madrid have no grounds to report us on this basis.
"The club are being totally abducted by the figure of Jose Mourinho.
"What worries me about their press release is that it could be construed that Real Madrid as an institution supports the statements made by Mourinho and that would provoke a serious institutional conflict between the two entities."
- Published28 April 2011
- Published28 April 2011