The bad referees' theater

Referees boast that good refereeing means not being the protagonist. The less talked about their work and the more unnoticed they are during the match is often synonymous with success. De Burgos Bengoetxea, visibly nervous from before the start of the match, and González Fuertes, who was nowhere to be seen in the final until the 96th minute, tried their best yesterday, but they were unsuccessful. In their attempt to whistle as little as possible so as not to be pictured, the one that was going to appear on Real Madrid TV anyway, they became Pontius Pilate, washing their hands of countless incidents, which always had as a common denominator a Real Madrid defender hitting a Barça forward at the wrong time and, on occasion, even inside the Real Madrid penalty area.

He had walked into De Burgos Bengoetxea's wolf's den the day before and couldn't get out. The pressure swallowed up the referee, and at key moments he felt conditioned by having been the star of the show on the day he least wanted to be. In his work, he was excessively lax, out of generosity, with those he had criticized. In every play, the intention to appear impartial was evident, but always conceding that slight advantage to the Whites, who of course didn't cease their protests, even though they had much more to keep quiet. The only time he showed courage in the first half to apply the justice he should have was when he booked Carlo Ancelotti.

De Burgos Bengoetxea was very lax in the face of the Whites' multiple tackles in the first half.

With the farce of the previous days, Madrid managed to completely intimidate the referee. Thanks to this, the Whites enjoyed complete impunity in their attacks: Lucas Vázquez dug his studs into Raphinha's ankle, Rüdiger took out Olmo, and Asencio also brought down the Barça midfielder without even flinching. "Go on, go on."

By the half-hour mark, Barça knew they had another enemy in the referee. De Burgos was excused again for a foul by Tchouaméni on Olmo at the edge of the box. However, he didn't hesitate to book Gerard Martín for a foul he didn't even see.

Real Madrid enjoyed impunity to hit and despite this, they ended up trying to attack the referee.

The spectacle continued with a late challenge by Fran García on Lamine Yamal. One of the crown jewels, perhaps the play that will be featured in all the memes, was Ceballos's grab on Cubarsí as he attempted to shoot in the box. The Real Madrid player nearly ripped the Blaugrana center back's shirt off. The Andalusian also deserved a red card for a slap on Lamine Yamal off the ball. "Keep going, keep going," he said again.

And while De Burgos managed to avoid angering the Whites, González Fuertes, the main agitator at the press conference the day before against Real Madrid TV, wasn't as brave during the match in two plays that could have ended the match much earlier. The first, the aforementioned tackle on Cubarsí. The second, a kick from Rüdiger that knocked Ferran Torres down as he tried to control the ball in the box. However, in the 96th minute, he appeared to deny Raphinha a penalty, this time fairly. There he once again displayed the courage he'd promised the day before.

González Fuertes, who missed two penalties, was braver in the press conference than in yesterday's match.

And despite all this, neither De Burgos nor González Fuertes will escape criticism from Real Madrid fans. Lucas Vázquez and Vinícius gave them a leg up by running onto the pitch to protest a clear foul by Mbappé seconds from time. Rüdiger even threw a water bottle at him, and if it weren't for a member of the staff, he would have gone after him. Real Madrid will continue their offensive, and the referees will once again have a very difficult time finding the desired impartiality. No matter what they say. Good theater. Or bad.