Ancelotti questions Atleti penalty in derby draw
Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti said "football people" won't understand why Atletico Madrid was awarded a penalty in the first half against his side after an absorbing and tense El Derbi ended 1-1 at Santiago Bernabeu.
Ancelotti put his head in his hands after the video assistant referee called his on-field counterpart to look at an incident on the pitchside monitor involving Madrid's Aurelien Tchouameni and Atletico forward Samual Lino after play had been allowed to continue on the half-hour mark.
Having watched multiple slow-motion replays, the referee decided Tchouameni had trodden on Lino's foot and committed a foul, and Julian Alvarez scored from the resulting spot-kick to put Atletico 1-0 up before half-time.
Kylian Mbappe equalised soon after the restart to get Madrid back on track, but despite completely dominating the second half, Ancelotti's men were unable to find an equaliser, largely thanks to an inspired performance from Jan Oblak in goal for Atletico.
Ancelotti claimed the penalty decision affected his team before Mbappe rescued the point.
"I think we deserved more. It was a very good game in the second half," Ancelotti said.
"The first half was totally different. Slower. We came out with good feelings, especially in the second half. The penalty situation affected the team. We played too slowly before.
"In the second half, we took advantage of the width of the field. Vini [Vinicius Junior] and Rodry [Rodrygo] created a lot of danger from the outside.
"It was a close, competitive match. As I said, we came out of the match with a draw but encouraged. The team was good in the second half."
There was controversy in the build-up to the derby after Madrid lodged a letter of complaint against LaLiga's match officials.
"The VAR blew the whistle for the penalty," he said when asked about the decision. "The referee was very close and saw it clearly.
"I saw that the VAR whistled a similar penalty in Athletic Bilbao against Girona. The people of football do not understand this.
"I don't want to get into the controversy. I prefer to talk about the match. We came out of the game with a draw, encouraged. The team was good, especially in the second half."
Madrid stays top of the LaLiga standings, still one point clear of Diego Simeone's side in second, but Barcelona is lurking in third and will be only one point off Atletico and two from Madrid should it win against Sevilla when they play on Monday (AEDT).
