Real Madrid left their Madrid Game at Real Betis with the argument turning less on the score than on the whistle. Two first-half incidents involving Jude Bellingham and Federico Valverde drew immediate complaints from fans after neither led to a foul being called or a card being shown.
The focus sharpened because Arda Guler was the only Real Madrid player booked in the opening 45 minutes. That detail landed beside the fan frustration online, where one account said the club had seen Alvaro Carreras booked for less against Real Sociedad on Aug. 26, while another said the same old pattern had returned: free rein for the other side and anything goes against Real Madrid.
The first incident came early, when Cucho Hernandez stepped on Valverde in the 10th minute and stayed on the field without a booking. Later in the half, Bellingham was hit from behind and the referee did not stop play for a foul, let alone reach for a card. Fans who replayed both moments argued that the threshold looked different depending on which team was involved.
That complaint carried extra weight because the numbers from the half did not fit the idea that Real Madrid had been the rougher side. They held 56% possession to Betis’ 44%, led 1.99 to 0.11 in expected goals, and took 15 shots to five, including five on target to Betis’ one. FotMob also credited Guler with seven dangerous chances, while Vinicius Jr. had four shots and 12 touches in the opposition penalty area.
The unanswered question is not whether the first half felt controversial. It did. The harder question is whether the referee’s choice to let those two incidents go, while booking Guler, changed the way the match was managed from that point on. For now, the record is simple: on Friday, Sept. 4, in Matchday 4 of the 2026-27 La Liga season, the calls that drew the loudest reaction all went one way in the eyes of Real Madrid supporters.
