Sevilla suffered a heavy 4-1 defeat away to Real Madrid at the Bernabeu, but the outcome was overshadowed by early refereeing controversy. Around the 22th minute, with the match still goalless, Guler was caught on camera striking Sevilla forward Peque with an elbow while chasing the ball towards goal.
Despite appeals from the visiting side, the match officials allowed play to continue without dismissing the Turkish international. The decision left the visitors aggrieved, as they felt forced to contest the remainder of the fixture at parity rather than playing against ten men for over an hour.
Real Madrid went on to secure a comfortable victory, though Sevilla also felt aggrieved by another decision in the build-up to the hosts' second goal. The defeat left the Andalusian club questioning key officiating calls that dictated the momentum of the game.
Garcia Plaza insists Sevilla were denied a fair contest
Addressing the media after the final whistle, a furious Garcia Plaza maintained that while Real Madrid were superior at full strength, the failure to send off Guler severely compromised Sevilla's game plan.
"I hope you all run the headline 'an elbow and that was that'. Eleven against eleven, they deserved to win, but they've robbed us of the chance to play a different match," Plaza told reporters after the game, as quoted by AS . "Today we should have played with an extra man, from the 25th minute, 11 against 10. I don't want to talk about the game after that. It's incredible. I saw it. Peque at halftime was saying 'he hit me.' It's a red card."
The visiting head coach was equally critical of the officiating leading up to Madrid's second goal, alleging an unpunished foul on defender Ure prior to the strike.
"It's true that there was a foul on Ure for the second goal; it wasn't a red card offence, but it was a foul. I've been told it wasn't shown on TV, but it was very clear," he added.
Garcia Plaza further pondered whether wider narrative pressure influenced the referee's decisions, questioning whether officials were hesitant to impact the title race ahead of El Clasico.
"Maybe we wouldn't have won, but from the 25th minute onwards with the score at 0–0, we should've had to play eleven against ten, for 65 minutes. That sums up the match. We might have lost anyway, but 11 against 11, Madrid deserved to win," Plaza continued. "We were supposed to capitalise on our numerical advantage, and it didn't happen. Why didn't that happen? Perhaps they didn't want the point gap to widen any further ahead of El Clasico if we'd won - I don't know."
However, Mourinho dismissed the claims in his post-match press conference, stating that no video evidence supported Sevilla's complaints. "Nobody has been able to show me what they say happened," Mourinho stated, adding that his player denied any wrongdoing and suggesting the opposition was attempting to divert attention away from a heavy defeat.
Fallout from Bernabeu defeat lingers
Sevilla will need to quickly move past the officiating controversy and regroup after a punishing defeat on the road. Maintaining composure and tactical focus will be essential for the team as they look to put this disappointment behind them in their upcoming league fixtures.
For Real Madrid, the convincing 4-1 victory maintains their momentum ahead of the highly anticipated El Clasico against arch-rivals Barcelona next weekend. Despite the post-match noise surrounding Guler, the team will turn their full attention to cementing their position at the top of the table.
