‘It’s in the subconscious of the referees’ – Emmanuel Petit believes Real Madrid have an advantage that influences decisions

Real Madrid were a touch lucky to not have gone down to ten men during their Champions League tie against RB Leipzig as they searched for a goal to send them through to the quarter-finals. 

Vinícius Jr. (23) put his hands on the neck of Leipzig’s Willi Orbán (31) which the Bundesliga side believed should have seen the winger sent off. He was not and was on the pitch to draw the sides level on the night (1-1) and Madrid ahead on aggregate (2-1). 

A draw was enough to eliminate Leipzig, and the German side have rued the indecision as a costly mistake that has prevented them from progressing to the next round. 

Speaking on After Foot , former player Emmanuel Petit criticised the referee and suggested that “ it’s in the subconscious of the referees ” to reward the bigger teams. 

The 1998 World Cup winner drew on his own experience to better explain his point, “ I experienced it at the time with Monaco against the great AC Milan, with its trio of Dutchmen, who dominated Europe… We had gross refereeing errors at home not sanctioned by the referee. And yet it was blatant. At the time there was no VAR and even us players said to ourselves that it was weird .”

The former Barcelona player was clear that he did not believe there was any corruption during last night’s game, “ I am not going to cry conspiracy by saying that there is a desire to protect Real Madrid .”

Petit clarified, “ I’m not talking about corruption, I’m not talking about conspiracy. But I think that even the referees when they go there, they’re impressed by the standing and the status of Real Madrid .” 

GFFN | Nick Hartland