This is how Madrid wins

Since I can remember, I don't remember any game in which Real Madrid lost due to their own faults. Something unrelated has always happened. A refereeing scandal, for example. This is the most recurrent excuse. But there are more: a plague of injuries, too few days of rest between games, that the rival is economically doped with petrodollars or that the competition is adulterated.

Self-criticism in Chamartín has always been minimal. The context is in their favour because they are –with Atlético's permission– the main club in the Spanish capital, where the federation bodies have their headquarters. They also have such powerful media loudspeakers –and so in tune with the shield– that they allow them to spread a tailor-made story. This pressure has historically borne fruit and has allowed Madrid to enjoy permanent preferential treatment. A situation that was exaggerated with the arrival of Florentino Pérez to the box and his obsession with controlling absolutely everything.

The situation was so vitiated that everyone had become accustomed to this modus vivendi. The referees knew that making a mistake against them could have consequences. So did the rivals, who were resigned and sometimes did not even protest. "This way, this way, this way Madrid wins," was chanted in the stands. The Madrid players had believed they had the right to insult, belittle or ridicule the referees. The coach, too. Aggression on the pitch increased, the tone in the press rooms rose and the club used its official television channel to point the finger at any referee, president or institution that did not act as dictated. Nobody penalized them. On the contrary.

Until one day, an enlightened person decided Do not expel Romero in that tackle from behind on Mbappé in the defeat against Espanyol. The short circuit was huge at the Bernabéu. And The response, so exaggerated that the rope broke. The referees, tired of seeing how they were publicly harassed, decided to stand up. In the last two games, the first two penalties against the entire season and the first red card for indiscipline.

Have the referees lost their fear? It is too early to say. The certainty is that the last refereeing decisions have been without thinking about what they will say in the 12 o'clock talk show or what photo will appear on the front page of that newspaper. Until now, any interpretable action was whistled in favor of the white team. Now it is not necessarily like that. In Madrid they have the feeling that they have been robbed. That it is a scandal. When the scandal is what has been happening until now. In the last games, Madrid has been just another club. It was about time. And may it last.