"Watching refereeing footage is harmful to health": Real Madrid's channel reopens the Negreira file before the Clasico | Goal.com

Published on 24 Oct 2026 | Reading time: 2 minutes

More than 24 hours before the Clasico between Barcelona and Real Madrid, the royal club's channel ramped up its attack on refereeing, running through a series of incidents it claims reveal recurring imbalances in the Catalans' favour. Then it circled back to the controversial Negreira case.

Sharp rhetoric put refereeing decisions front and centre ahead of the big clash at the Camp Nou. Real Madrid's official channel leaned on comparisons between sendings-off, disallowed goals and penalties in the two sides' meetings over recent years.

According to the Catalan newspaper "Sport", the channel opened by comparing the number of sendings-off since the year 2000: "Since 2000, 12 Barcelona players have been sent off, compared to 23 on our side, almost double, which is abnormal when watching many of the clips."

A mocking, offensive name followed, blending Barcelona's name with video assistant referee (VAR) technology. The channel then invoked incidents involving Sergio Busquets, Gavi and Frenkie de Jong, arguing some of their challenges warranted a sending-off.

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LaLiga

25 Oct 2026

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The escalation didn't stop there. Next came the file on disallowed goals, with the channel presenting figures it said reflected a disparity in decisions between the two rivals.

It said: "Barcelona have had four goals disallowed, compared to 20 for Real Madrid. Goals have been unjustly disallowed for us, while goals have been unjustly awarded to them. It is a scandal."

Referees also stood accused of allowing Barcelona goals despite offsides or fouls in the build-up, while chalking off goals the channel considers valid for Real Madrid.

Penalties drew fire too. "There are many penalties that have not been awarded to us, while they award penalties as a result of simulated falls," the channel said.

The accusations grew sharper still, with talk of "refereeing imbalances in Clasico matches, always in the same direction", a nod to what it considers a recurring pattern of decisions working in Barcelona's favour.

Then came the cruellest line of all, a jab at the effect its clips have on the royal club's supporters: "Watching our videos is harmful to the health of Real Madrid fans, in light of all these abnormal incidents."

The Negreira case returned to the fore as the attack wound down. "They are the ones who paid the money," the channel said, a fresh allusion to the payments Barcelona made to a company connected to Jose Maria Negreira, the former official on the Spanish refereeing committee.

The channel signed off by mocking the images that place Barcelona players alongside referees: "Jose Mota could make the videos bringing Barcelona players together with the referees," a reference to the Spanish comedian.

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