The Spanish press have collectively blasted the standard of refereeing that helped Manchester United beat Real Sociedad in controversial fashion in the Europa League on Thursday. The Red Devils fell behind to an early goal from Mikel Oyarzabal, but Ruben Amorim’s men sealed their progress to the quarter-finals with a 4-1 victory (5-2 on aggregate), with Bruno Fernandes scoring a hat-trick at Old Trafford. But the visitors were furious with decisions made by referee Benoit Bastien, who awarded three penalties during the game and showed a red card to Jon Aramburu midway through the second half.
One of Spain’s leading sports newspapers, Diario AS, described the game as ‘one of the greatest robberies in the VAR era’. Marca echoed their view and stated in no uncertain terms that the French official was responsible for Real’s exit from the continental competition. The headline of Friday’s edition read: ‘The referee sends La Real out’, while their match report made mention of ‘two non-existent penalties’. Mundo Deportivo also said: ‘La Real say goodbye after two penalties and a red card’, while El Diario Vasco labelled their exit an ‘outrageous farewell to Europe.’
In particular, there were three decisions brought under the spotlight from Bastien, who pointed to the spot twice in United’s favour. Minutes after Oyarzabal had put the Basque outfit ahead, United had the chance to level things up when Rasmus Hojlund was brought down by Igor Zubeldia.
The second offence occurred just three minutes after the break where Patrick Dorgu appeared to collide with Aritz Elustondo inside the penalty area, although the Spaniard didn’t appear to make a move towards the United full-back. But VAR declined the chance to recommend an on-field review and Fernandes coolly dispatched his second of the night, just as he had done with the first.
La Real were reduced to 10 men after Aramburu scythed down Joshua Zirkzee, which was interpreted as a denial of a clear goalscoring opportunity (DOGSO). United were even awarded a third spot-kick for a challenge on Dorgu, but the youngster admitted to the referee it wasn’t a penalty and VAR agreed, as the man in the middle Bastien overturned his decision.
Real Sociedad head coach Imanol Alguacil struggled to contain his frustration and claimed neither side ‘deserved’ the referee’s performance: “It’s cruel, you don’t even know how to explain it without making excuses. United were better, but I would have liked to compete on a one-to-one basis,” Alguacil said.
“The referee didn’t want to whistle the only penalty that was and he whistled the ones that weren’t. We didn’t deserve a referee like that, neither us nor Manchester United. There was not a neutral refereeing performance. I feel very sorry for the fans, there was no possible match – not only because of those decisions, from the 14th minute it has been continuous, it is a shame.
“There is nothing to blame on the players, the refereeing has not let us compete. We started the game well, I don’t know what would have happened.”