A dubious penalty, suspicious gifts and a 'TV conspiracy': The Real Madrid vs Villarreal controversy rumbles on

Madrid have accused Spanish networks of a television conspiracy against the club while Villarreal's president cast doubt on the neutrality of the much-maligned match officials

The Spanish press have intensified the row between the two clubs (Getty)

There is an inherent and ugly paranoia in Spanish football that turns simple human errors, like refereeing mistakes, into conspiracies and wild allegations.

And so the fallout from Real Madrid’s controversial 3-2 win over Villarreal in La Liga continues, with Madrid-based newspaper AS pouring petrol on an already needlessly growing fire.

Tuesday morning's front page used a full-page picture to show that Villarreal’s second goal in that match had been offside. The paper used this as further evidence of an alleged 'TV conspiracy' against Zinedine Zidane’s team.

Real fought back from 2-0 down in the second-half to beat Villarreal at the Madrigal. The most controversial moment of the match, a key turning point, came when Villarreal's Bruno was adjudged to have handled in the area, with Cristiano Ronaldo converting the penalty to level the scores.

Substitute Alvaro Morata then headed in the winning goal seven minutes from time, with Villarreal boss Fran Escriba subsequently sent to the stands for losing his cool on the touchline.

The controversy has continued after the match and AS, a daily sports publication with close links to the Real Madrid hierarchy, has since reported that Madrid are going to the lengths of lodging an official complaint to La Liga president Javier Tebas because of perceived prejudiced television coverage against their team. A continuation of their ongoing war with Tebas.

The club are said to be particularly frustrated by the coverage during the win against El Submarino Amarillo and how television replays only put emphasis on moments from the game that portrayed the club in a negative light – such as the dubious second-half penalty decision.

Is there a TV conspiracy against Real Madrid? (Getty)

AS also report that the club are disgruntled over the lack of controversy surrounding Villarreal’s second-goal, scored by Cédric Bakambu, which they believed should have been disallowed for offside.

Television coverage appeared to show that the Congolese forward was onside when he ran onto Bruno’s through-ball, but on Tuesday morning AS featured a picture of the goal on their front-page taken from a camera angle which shows Bakambu marginally in front of Real defender Sergio Ramos.

Villarreal supporters have however suggested that Real are seeking to engineer a controversy to detract from claims the club unfairly influenced referee Jesus Gil Manzano.

After the match, the club's president, Fernando Roig, angrily claimed that he had seen the match officials leaving the stadium with Real Madrid branded bags.

"What has surprised me and made me laugh is that the referees have come out of the stadium with Real Madrid bags," he told Cadena Cope radio station. "They were carrying plastic bags of Real Madrid and I do not know what they had in those bags.

"Our coach did not like that the refereeing delegate came to say goodbye and while he shook our coach's hand, with the other he was holding a Real Madrid bag. He didn't like it. I don't think that is good."

Roig has suspicions of foul play (Getty)

He later told Marca: “I just don’t think it’s a good image. They tell me it’s common. But they have not come out with Villarreal bags.”

The Spanish Referee's Committee (CTA) were quick to shoot down Roig's suggestions, with a source telling Marca that awarding match officials a small souvenir is a common practice in European football. "In the bag were Madrid key rings, pins and pens," the source said.

AS were quick to jump on this line and immediately posted a short video which showed match officials leaving a Villarreal match in 2012 with similar club-branded plastic bags and, in truth, the whole situation is so ludicrous that the prospect of referees being bought off by stationery is not even the most wild accusation on offer.

Morata's late goal sunk Villarreal (Getty)

Meanwhile, Spanish football expert Guillem Balague described the penalty decision that sparked all of the controversy as “completely unfair”.

“After Gareth Bale's goal, Madrid were 2-1 down and the penalty controversy then took place. It was a completely unfair decision,” Balague wrote in his column for Sky Sports.

“It was a handball that was not intentional, came after a rebound and it should never have been given. It was only right that everyone protested and it is only right that today it is considered an excessive advantage for Real Madrid.

“The penalty was converted and by then, Villarreal had already used a lot of energy and Real, who feel more comfortable with their backs to the wall, kept going until they got the third goal.”