Barcelona loanee Inaki Pena reflected on Real Madrid's late equalizer in their 2-2 draw against Elche on November 23. Pena will stay at Elche as a loanee until the end of this season.
Following a goalless first half, things started heating up in the second half. By the 84th minute, Elche were leading 2-1, with Aleix Febas (53') and Alvaro Rodriguez (84') scoring. Yet, Los Blancos scraped through with a 2-2 draw with Jude Bellingham's equaliser in the dying minutes of the match (87') after Dean Huijsen's first goal (78').
However, Bellingham's goal sparked controversy as it came after Inaki Pena and Vinicius Jr were involved in a bloody collision. There was doubt on whether it should have been ruled out because of a foul on Pena.
In the post-game interview, Inaki Pena reflected on the controversial goal, saying it should have been a foul. He said:
"He shoots, tries to go for the rebound, but on the second play, he doesn’t let me participate because he knocks me out. For me, it is a foul, but if the referee goes to VAR and says it’s not a foul, there’s nothing we can do."
The draw against Elche sees Real Madrid still sitting at the top of the LaLiga standings, with 32 points off 13 games. Although, they are now only one point clear of Barcelona, who have 31 points off 13 games.
Real Madrid President Florentino Perez fires shots at Barcelona
Real Madrid's president Florentino Perez has fired shots over Barcelona's alleged involvement in the controversial Negreira case. The case sees the Catalans being accused of making reported payments to the former Vice President of the referees' association, Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira. Perez commented:
"It’s not normal that Barcelona paid the vice president of the referees’ association more than 8 million euros for at least 17 years. Whatever the reason. The vice president of referees, who held important positions. A period that, coincidentally, coincides with Barca’s best results in our country."
He added:
"We can all agree that expulsions involve the greatest degree of subjectivity. Well, look. Real Madrid had a net balance, in the 21st century, of two expulsions against them. And Barcelona, with 61 expulsions in their favour. That’s a difference of no less than 59. The balance of expulsions during Negreira’s time in charge, Barca’s balance was +49, and Real Madrid’s was -1. Draw your own conclusions."
Perez's comments seemed to have further sparked the two LaLiga giants' historic rivalry. On the other hand, Barca denied allegations in the Negreira case, saying that the payments gave them any advantage.