Another scandalous refereeing decision in favor of Madrid: They forgive Mbappé's red card!

Real Madrid's victory in Girona (0-3) left us with one of the most controversial plays of the season, yet another. Gil Manzano forgave the expulsion of Kylian Mbappé after the French forward blatantly handled the ball, and the referee, incomprehensibly, did not show him a second yellow card.

Just before halftime, Mbappé had been cautioned for protesting alongside Carlo Ancelotti after a foul was not called. In the second half, right after the start, the referee called a handball on the French player, but did not sanction it with a card despite Mbappé's clear attempt to deceive him. A few minutes later, he scored the 0-3 assisted by Modric.

Mbappé's play is a textbook yellow card

Mbappé takes the ball with his hand trying to deceive the referee, and he does so deliberately to take advantage of that situation and attempt to score. The images clearly show how, in the run towards the goal, he looks back a couple of times, first to see whether the referee has seen him or not and then looks to the left to see if the linesman raises the flag or not.

Next, the Real Madrid player, seeing that neither of the two previous situations occurred, continued the play, reaching the goal and shooting in an attempt to score. It was a very clear attempt to deceive the referee because he is not cutting off a pass or the ball hitting his hand involuntarily, quite the opposite.

In the replay, it becomes clear that Mbappé used his hand to control the ball and also that he tried to take advantage of that situation to score. According to the rules, a field player cannot touch the ball with their hand, and if they do so voluntarily with the intention of deceiving the referee, it is a card, no doubt about it. This is what the regulations say about it:

6. PENALIZABLE / NON-PENALIZABLE HANDS

It will be considered an INFRACTION in the following cases:

VOLUNTARY HAND

When a player touches the ball voluntarily with their hand or arm, for example, making a movement towards the ball.

HAND IN AN UNNATURAL POSITION

A player who occupies a larger space with their arm/hand, running a risk and, as a consequence, cuts off a pass from an opponent, a shot on goal, etc.

This type of situation includes cases where:

- The hand or arm is clearly detached and away from the body.

- The hand or arm is clearly above the shoulder.

In summary... he tries to deceive the referee, takes the ball with his hand deliberately and in a clearly unnatural position to gain an advantage over the opponent and attempt to score.