Xabi Alonso criticizes referee and says it’s ‘only three points’ | Soccer | Sporty

The crisis and the whistles were called at the Bernabéu after the defeat against Celta, the last point of another bad match for Real Madrid, while Xabi Alonso took refuge in one of the old football clichés to escape a fiery appearance: “There are only three points”. He kept repeating it. Is the position at stake on Wednesday against Manchester City? “We are playing for three points in the Champions League, that’s why we are playing,” insisted Tolosarra, in a sentence that sounded like a slogan at a time when his team collapsed in the League. Just one win in the last five games, and already four points behind Barcelona when they left the classic a month ago five ahead. With nothing left to hold on to after a very bad evening in Madrid, Xabi only had to turn to the immediate European future to try to escape the scenario of black football.

The White coach accepted the evidence that his team had “missed things” in a “convoluted” match, but tried to justify a poor performance by the vagaries of the match – “Mili’s injury hurt us, it was difficult for us to recover,” he said – and by the referee’s performance. “We were destabilized by the referee’s decisions. He was very permissive with Celta. Álvaro (Carreras)’s card is questionable. I really wanted it. I didn’t like the refereeing,” he said. Alejandro Quintero sent off Fran García, Álvaro Carreras and Endrick, who was on the bench.

“The best reaction was to do one less. The team ran,” said Alonso, who admitted they had planned the match “to play with a different rhythm”. “The responsibility belongs to everyone,” he assured. “This is football. We know we can turn the situation around. On Wednesday we have the opportunity to get rid of the bad taste in our mouths. We have to show another side,” he said amid a crisis that leaves Xabi in plenty of trouble. The relief after Wednesday’s comfortable 0-3 at San Mamés lasted barely four days. Kylian Mbappé did not score, he was very absent all evening with the exception of a Vaseline which went high, and the team still found itself at zero even if he finished all the artillery.

Madrid’s poor play is also combined with an alarming new injury report on defense. Militão’s first examination left very worrying signs in the club pending the medical examinations this Monday. Dean Huijsen is also not expected to arrive for Wednesday’s duel. And they are joined by Trent Alexander-Arnold, Carvajal, Alaba and Mendy. In the first team, Tolosarra would only have two pure central defenders available for Wednesday against Erling Haaland: Rüdiger and Asencio. “The situation is tense. We don’t need to look long term,” Xabi said.

The whistles from the amphitheater to the team, mixed also with anger at the referee, closed an evening that spoiled any turning point that could mean victory in Bilbao. Once again, facing another low block, Madrid’s every seam was visible. “We have to look for solutions, we have to prepare,” commented Xabi Alonso without much explanation on the team’s bankruptcy. “We are all angry,” he concluded.