Zubizarreta: Adriano deserved a penalty
Barcelona director of football Andoni Zubizarreta believes Adriano was fouled within the Real Madrid penalty box and deserved a penalty in their 2-1 El Clasico defeat.
By FOX Sports Staff
The Blaugrana lost 2-1 at the Santiago Bernabeu on the night and suffered a consecutive defeat to their arch-rivals following their Copa del Rey elimination at the Camp Nou earlier in the week.
It was also a heated encounter as Adriano fell within the penalty box after a perceived challenge by Sergio Ramos during injury time, who had only minutes earlier scored the crucial second goal for Real.
The referee refused to listen to the penalty claims and a number of angry Barcelona players rushed towards the official to express their disapproval following the final whistle. In the aftermath of the kerfuffle, goalkeeper Victor Valdes was handed a red card with Andres Iniesta also getting a yellow for dissent.
Zubizarreta was clearly frustrated with the incident and, unlike assistant coach Jordi Roura, made his views on the matter abundantly clear.
"The images are very clear on that incident, it was a clear penalty to Adriano," the former Barcelona player told reporters.
"It deserved to be a tied game, as it was an atypical Clasico, with a lot of intense play. Now we have to recover from this result for the next [Liga] game against Deportivo.
"We are still many points ahead of second place, and we are working every day to build our game. We must always compete, and the sooner we close out the league, the better."
On the other hand, Real centre-back Pepe felt that Adriano fell down to ground far too easily during the incident.
"I didn't see Adriano's action but it seems like he is the one looking for contact. The referee was perfect. After all, he could also have sent off Thiago [Alcantara], but he had control," the Portuguese told reporters after the game.
"I've seen Barcelona doing unusual things, like surrounding the referee at the end. It's not a polite image. They've lost twice against us and won't be happy.
"We've played a complete match. We are so happy. I always believed in the league. As long as it's possible, we'll fight for it.
"Now it's Champions League time, and we are so confident."