Miguel Ángel Gil: "We cannot normalise what is abnormal"
Hours after the controversial derby, the Atleti director comments on his impressions of what happened at the Santiago Bernabéu.
A few hours after the controversial derby at the Santiago Bernabéu, Miguel Ángel Gil wanted to make an assessment of what happened. The CEO is very positive about the team's performance: "They did a great job, with a lot of solidarity, which together with the talent we have meant that we were very close to winning the game. I would have loved to know what would have happened if we had played the whole 90 minutes with eleven players. I imagine that like the millions of spectators around the world who followed the game, but unfortunately we were left wanting".
For Miguel Ángel Gil, the expulsion of Correa is incomprehensible: "It's not worth insisting any further. I said it a few weeks ago and I stand by it word for word. Yesterday was more of the same, it's regrettable! We always suffer this kind of behaviour against this team because of the permanent pressure on the refereeing staff. It is unreasonable that it is so difficult for a referee to send off one of his players even if the play is clear and there is no room for interpretation, as happened in our last game on this same pitch, and that yesterday it was so easy to unfairly send off Ángel Correa".
The Red & White CEO believes that the situation surrounding these matches is unjustifiable: "After the last derby I decided to share my opinion publicly and, just for that, I received a lot of criticism and disqualifications from different stands. However, from many groups I received countless private expressions of support. I especially liked those that came from media professionals and former referees, because they understood better than anyone else my denunciation of a system that is not fair and that tries to influence the decisions of people who should be impartial judges. I know that there are many people against us denouncing a system that is unfair, but we cannot normalise what is abnormal. I refuse to get used to these situations, even though they have unfortunately become a habit over the years. I am not trying to find excuses to justify yesterday's result, I am simply showing that we are fed up with it".
“The integrity of the competition cannot be in doubt”
Furthermore, our CEO believes that the case of Enriquez Negreira and Barcelona greatly damages the credibility of our football: "The integrity of the competition cannot be in doubt. If fans come to question the integrity of the game, we are all out of the game. In the last few weeks we have had access to very relevant information that requires serious investigation. We have no choice but to get to the bottom of this matter. This is what all LaLiga clubs have demanded, with the exception of two: the club to be investigated and one other. I am convinced that our football deserves that we all work together so that there is not a single doubt or suspicion. I intend to continue to do so and I hope that, at least on this point, we can all agree".
