The fiery match between Real Madrid and Athletic Bilbao still hasn’t gone completely off the map. Athletic Bilbao are filing an official complaint against the Madrid press over things written about Carlos Gurpegi. Cristiano Ronaldo was sent off for scratching him in the face, but could have seen the red card earlier for his stomp on Mikel Rico.
The red card that for now is going to keep Ronaldo away from the pitch for the next three league matches (but not the Copa Del Rey match against Atletico Madrid) came from his incident with Gurpegi, who was actually the one who began the whole incident, but the referee caught Ronaldo scratching his face which resulted in a red card.
But previously in the match Ronaldo had another moment that probably deserved him seeing the red: While chasing a ball that was getting away from him, he saw Mikel Rico sliding in front of him. For some reason, at least from the angle we’ve seen, Ronaldo doesn’t try to trap the ball but gives up the chase and provides a little stomp on Rico’s foot, without anyone really noticing.
It’s not just Ronaldo’s fault in this – Bilbao were extremely aggressive with him throughout the match without getting reprimanded for it, and even though Ronaldo has done better in recent years when it comes to ignoring provocations, his temper got the best of him on this occasion.
As for Bilbao filing a complaint, it has to do with some allegations that Gurpegi’s behavior had something to do with him being Basque.