Real Madrid add fuel to Atletico derby fire with ref complaints

Real Madrid's complaints about refereeing have created an even tenser atmosphere than usual around their crunch La Liga derby clash with Atletico Madrid on Saturday.

League leaders Madrid host their city rivals, second and trailing by a single point, at the Santiago Bernabeu, after a tumultuous week in Spanish football.

Last weekend Los Blancos dropped three points in a shock defeat at Espanyol, after which they sent the Spanish football federation a letter blasting La Liga refereeing as "rigged".

Madrid were left raging after Espanyol defender Carlos Romero scythed down Kylian Mbappe, avoiding a red card before going on to score the winner.

Carlo Ancelotti left Mbappe out of his squad which beat Leganes on Wednesday to reach the Copa del Rey semi-finals, saying the striker had a bruised calf.

The French superstar will most likely return to face Atletico for the first time since joining Los Blancos. Mbappe missed the 1-1 draw in September at the Metropolitano stadium with a hamstring problem.

Madrid scraped a late 3-2 win over Leganes which saw them avoid a draining extra 30 minutes of extra-time.

"The team is in good shape, we left some players out to rest and to be ready for Saturday," Ancelotti said.

Madrid's vigorous complaints about refereeing have not gone unnoticed across town.

"Can you help us with the nuances of the following verbs? pressure, scare, intimidate, coerce, frighten, influence, impose..." Atletico wrote in a sardonic message on X, in the wake of Madrid's letter.

Atletico striker Antoine Griezmann said he was unhappy about the situation, including the focus in the media on Madrid's statement.

"Now the referees will be afraid of making mistakes because they know they are being watched," the French forward told Movistar.

"We have to let them be calm, they've got enough on their hands as it is on the pitch, let alone with stupid stuff going on off of it."

Atletico themselves have been hinting at refereeing bias in favour of Madrid, most notably after Los Blancos beat Celta Vigo in a cup match in January with controversial calls in their favour.

"I didn't see yesterday's match, they told me about some things that happened, as have been going on for 100 years... I don't know why people are surprised," said Atletico coach Diego Simeone.

Real Madrid come into the derby plagued with injury problems at the back, with Antonio Rudiger, Eder Militao, Dani Carvajal and David Alaba all sidelined.

Ancelotti must also decide whether to maintain his attacking quartet of Vinicius Junior, Mbappe, Jude Bellingham and Rodrygo or opt for a more conservative set-up.

Simeone joked that he would be arriving at the Bernabeu "in the same fashion as always, by (parking the) bus."

With forwards Alexander Sorloth, Griezmann, Julian Alvarez and Angel Correa all among the goals lately, along with Rodrigo De Paul shining in midfield, the Rojiblancos certainly have the firepower to dismantle the hosts if they did choose an attacking approach.

Player to watch: Pedri Gonzalez

Barcelona midfielder Pedri is in the form of his career and an essential part of Hansi Flick's midfield engine room. The Canary Islander's creativity will be on show on Sunday when the Catalans visit Sevilla, aiming to keep the pressure on the top two.

Key stats

3 - draws in the last four La Liga derby clashes between Real Madrid and Atletico

6 - times Alvarez, Sorloth and Correa have each netted as a substitute in all competitions for Atletico this season

181 - Girona veteran Daley Blind has the most passes into the final third in the top flight

Friday (all times GMT)

Saturday

Celta Vigo v Real Betis (1300), Athletic Bilbao v Girona (1515), Las Palmas v Villarreal (1730), Real Madrid v Atletico Madrid (2000)

Alaves v Getafe (1300), Valencia v Leganes (1515), Real Sociedad v Espanyol (1730), Sevilla v Barcelona (2000)

Real Mallorca v Osasuna (2000)