Marcos Llorente and Johnny Cardoso baffled by ‘different rules for different teams’ in Madrid derby

Atletico Madrid midfielders Marcos Llorente and Johnny Cardoso have publicly questioned the consistency of the officiating in Sunday night’s 3-2 defeat to Real Madrid, claiming that “different rules” appeared to apply to each side. The flashpoint of their frustration was a first-half penalty appeal when Llorente went down under a challenge from Dani Carvajal, an incident that was waved away by the on-field referee and left unchecked by VAR.

Speaking to Movistar+ immediately after the final whistle, Cardoso told Cadena SER that the decision typified a wider imbalance. “From my point of view, Marcos deserved a penalty that wasn’t given,” the Brazilian said. “I think (the referee) didn’t apply the same criteria to both sides. In the end, they called a foul for one side and not for us.”

Llorente, attending a golf and padel charity event the following morning, expanded on the incident to Marca. “I didn’t even realise it, because I shot and a train came right at me. I didn’t know who it was,” he recalled. “If VAR doesn’t help either, it’s true that things happen very quickly. It doesn’t make sense for the striker in this situation to shoot and then have someone come up and kick him.”

Both players collected bookings that trigger automatic suspensions, adding salt to Atletico wounds. While Diego Simeone declined to pin the loss on the officials, the two camps left the stadium nursing grievances: Real Madrid lamented Federico Valverde’s straight red card and the fact they received two cards for only two fouls, whereas Atletico pointed to a game-long ledger that recorded merely two fouls in their favour.

Cardoso struck a defiant note despite the sense of injustice. “We gave it our all. We have to keep moving forward and continue improving,” he insisted, but the lingering impression after the derby is of a contest remembered as much for its officiating disputes as for its five-goal drama.