Girona captain sides with referees ahead of Real Madrid clash – ‘Let them do their job’ | OneFootball

Recent weeks have been bizarre, yet painful for Real Madrid, especially with the refereeing situation in La Liga.

A lot has been said about the inconsistencies in officiating games this season in the Spanish league and the situation has polarised clubs into two distinct groups – those who publicly express dismay and others who respect the referees.

Real Madrid, by far, have led the former group and have made their unhappiness over the situation well known. In fact, it is not surprising that the referee who gave Jude Bellingham a red card has faced immediate sanctions.

Girona striker gives his opinion

Speaking to the media ahead of Girona’s upcoming clash against Real Madrid, Cristhian Stuani gave his opinion on a plethora of topics including the refereeing in La Liga and the upcoming game at Santiago Bernabeu.

He began by siding with the referees amidst the ongoing controversy in Spain over the officiating standards, saying,

“You have to let them work.”

“Lately they are exposed to a lot of pressure. On our side, we have to tip the balance so that things get better. They have the responsibility to do things right, like us,” he added.

Elaborating on his principle of playing the game well and not bothering about officiating, he said,

“The referees can make mistakes. We can’t pressure them because it seems that we look more at that than at the beauty of football.”

“We are going to dedicate ourselves to playing and let them do their job. That doesn’t turn into constant controversy because the referees try to do their best,” he added.

Real Madrid have not held back from hitting out at the gross injustice served to them and have had a vocal role in the outburst against referees. Speaking about putting pressure on match officials, Stuani said,

“I disagree with pressuring the referees. Those who complain lately, moreover, are the biggest.”

“The referee is the authority and if we don’t respect it this doesn’t go well. You can’t disrespect because it has its consequences, it seems normal to me,” he added.

Real Madrid face Girona in La Liga this weekend. (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)

After taking his stance against pressurising referees, he made it clear that he was not pointing any fingers at his team’s upcoming opponents.

“I am not speaking about Real Madrid, it is in general.”

On the upcoming La Liga clash

Stuani also had a lot to say about the upcoming league game against Real Madrid, especially with Los Blancos struggling in the domestic competition in recent weeks.

“We have to be perfect. The reality is that Madrid, in transition, is very dangerous and has players who are world-class. We have to play a great game and then with our style, we can control it and make them uncomfortable.”

“We know that doing this is a great difficulty, but we are working for it and we have the confidence to be able to do it,” he added, expressing optimism.

Finally, the Girona striker was asked if he felt referees would be pressurised by Real Madrid’s comments while officiating the game against Girona.

“We don’t have to think that it’s going to affect us. I don’t believe that a referee can be conditioned by pressures because, if so, we will already give up and not play.”

“We are going to try to win, compete, without thinking that the referee is going to whistle us badly or influenced by the media. We will try to compete and get the referees to do their job,” he added.

Source: AS