The First Iberdrola brought down the curtain with an exciting day 30 that ended with Real Madrid, third, sealing their ticket to the Champions League and Atlético, fourth, outside Europe for second consecutive Year. The white team achieved victory against Villarreal thanks to a penalty goal by Asllani. A maximum penalty, doubtful and discussed by the yellow team, which ended assuming the ticket to the maximum continental competition for those of Toril because Atlético, at the same time, fell to Barça 2-1 at the Johan in a match in which the rojiblancas played with one less from 59′ to 90′. “The players have been wild boars and have given everything to enter the Champions League“, tells AS, Lola Romero, director of women’s football at Atlético de Madrid.
Making it clear that his team had to “have done their homework before”, Romero wanted to make clear the rojiblanco club’s indignation with the arbitration received: “We believe that if they had been as they should have been, above all, penalties, which are what have harmed us the most, two or three days ago we would be classified for Champions. That is the particular balance that I can make of Atlético”.
And it is that the director of women’s football of the rojiblanco club, He not only believes that they have been harmed on the last day, but also in previous. “A penalty against in minute 93 in the first round match against Real Sociedad, the two non-existent penalties in these last three days for Real Madrid (the previous one was against Madrid CFF), three very clear penalties not called also against the Real after…”, lists a Lola Romero who expresses that they are “quite indignant” and feel “harmed”.
It is not the first time that arbitrations have provoked the outrage of women’s teams, both in the Spanish League and in Europe. Barça itself last year complained in the semifinal against PSG of two penalties that, if there was VAR, they could have been whistled —This year the highest European competition has had it since the quarterfinals—.
That is precisely the solution that Lola Romero proposes for the Spanish League: “The complaint is general, it is not just a comment from me, the arbitrations are not at the level of Spanish women’s football. If next season the League is going to be professional, we have a collective agreement, we believe that the level of refereeing should also grow. If they had a help, call it VAR or second vision, this would not happen“.
The farewell of Amanda, Meseguer and Aleixandri
The until now captains of Atlético Amanda Sampedro, Silvia Meseguer and Laia Aleixandri played their last match as red and whites yesterday at the Johan. In the afternoon, the three were at the Wanda Metropolitano to receive the affection of all their fans, a tribute that was added to the one already carried out last weekend at the Wanda Sports Center in Alcalá against Eibar.
“It’s just a cycle change and we believe that for both parties it was time for this change. We wish them the best”, explains a Lola Romero who also speaks in terms of the future: “May the fans be calm, this is Atlético, we have to keep going and we’re going to give them a lot of joy again”.