Real Madrid suffered their second defeat of the season earlier today, falling to a 2-1 loss against Atletico Madrid at the Riyadh Air Metropolitano.
The two sides battled through a tightly contested first half, with neither team able to break the deadlock before the interval. However, the match took a dramatic turn after the break.
Real Madrid were reduced to ten men after Dean Huijsen was shown a red card for a last-man foul, allowing Atletico Madrid to take advantage of their numerical superiority and establish a 2-1 lead.
The defeat was made more frustrating for Los Blancos by several refereeing decisions that the club felt went against them.
Following the derby, Real Madrid officially released a statement on social media criticising the refereeing and what they described as double standards.
Real Madrid released an official statement against the refereeing.
"Real Madrid lost the derby at the Metropolitano in a match marked by Ortiz Arias' very terrible refereeing," the statement began.
The club then highlighted two incidents involving Atletico Madrid players Cuti Romero and Kang-In Lee, arguing that both should have been sent off.
"He failed to send off Cuti Romero in the first half for stepping on Bellingham's knee (despite going to the monitor to review the incident), nor did he send off Kang-In Lee for stepping on Valverde's left ankle."
Real Madrid concluded their statement by stressing the potential impact of those decisions on the outcome of the match.
"Both decisions had an impact on the match, which was ultimately decided in Atlético's favor in the second half."
The club's argument is that Real Madrid could have had a numerical advantage during the first half, but instead ended up playing with ten men after Huijsen's dismissal.
Once they were reduced to ten players, Real Madrid struggled to regain control of the game and found it difficult to maintain possession against an Atletico side that made the most of the extra man.
The result leaves Real Madrid six points behind Barcelona in the standings, adding further pressure to the team heading into the international break.
With the squad now set to disperse for international duty, Real Madrid will have time to regroup before returning to action and attempting to close the gap at the top of the table.