Real Madrid visited Atalanta at Gewiss Stadium this Wednesday to open their 2020/21 UEFA Champions League round of 16 series, with the Spanish team playing a very complicated game against the Italians.
Los Blancos had to fight really hard to unlock the game and it wasn’t until the last five minutes of action that Ferland Mendy pulled out his magic and gave the lead, and the win, to the Spanish giants with a shot outside of the box.
It was a hard-fought match and Atalanta really put up a big fight against the 13x Champions League winners but that wasn’t just enough. The biggest issue during the game, though, was a questionable play in the first minutes of the match, with the referee ejecting Remo Freuler before the first 20 minutes of action.
Fans blast Real Madrid and referees for a red card
This decision didn’t sit well with fans around the world and Real Madrid were blasted after such a controversial play. When Mendy was entering Atalanta’s area, Freuler did commit a foul but absolutely nobody believed it was worthy of a red card.
Madrid won the game with a lone goal by Mendy, the same player involved in the polemic play and now the Spanish side will try to defend their advantage at home two weeks from now. This decision didn’t satisfy anybody and now the Italian team will try to turn things around in Madrid.
