Ex-Barcelona midfielder claims referees are biased towards Real Madrid: “Robbed so many times”

Speaking on his Twitch stream, former Barcelona midfielder Arturo Vidal, who currently plies his trade for Athletico Paranaense, has claimed that he had seen referees favour Real Madrid on many occasions in the past.

Vidal’s claims come days after former Barcelona manager Ronald Koeman made accusations of a similar nature, with the Dutchman stating that referees in Spain show bias towards the Catalans’ biggest rivals.

Now, Vidal, too, has claimed that he has experienced such treatment throughout his career in Europe, stating that his teams have been ‘robbed’ many times when playing against Real Madrid.

“Sometimes I’m not sure in which match a specific controversy occurred against Real Madrid…. Against Real Madrid I experienced so many robberies in my career, sometimes I forget the details. They robbed my teams so many times,” Vidal said.

While interacting with the fans on stream, Vidal was also asked to choose between Sergio Busquets and Casemiro, and the Chilean international picked the former Barcelona captain.

“Busquets. No doubt,” Vidal said.

“In all teams, the pivot is always the one who controls the tempo, the one with the most technique, the one who moves the ball… Casemiro doesn’t do any of that, which is why I prefer Busquets.”

Vidal was also asked to pick between former Barcelona striker and club legend Luis Suarez and current No. 9 Robert Lewandowski. In response, he said:

“I don’t know if there will ever be a striker better than them. Lewandowski has many qualities, but I prefer Luis Suarez… Suarez has that ‘mischief’ that South American players have, something that Robert does not have,” he said.