Speaking to reporters on Friday, Flick expressed disbelief at the treatment referees are receiving in Spain, stating, “what they are doing to (referees) is unbelievable.”
In his first season in La Liga, the German coach didn’t specifically mention referee José Luis Munuera, who has been the talk of the town since he sent off Bellingham last weekend. However, his remarks came after Munuera spoke out against what he called a false claim from local media that led to him being temporarily sidelined by the Spanish soccer federation.
Reports suggested he had inappropriate business ties with “officials” in the league due to motivational talks he gave on sports values. Munuera refuted these claims, insisting he has never received payment from any sports club or federation for his talks.
The Spanish soccer federation has since cleared Munuera of any conflict of interest after reviewing the situation, allowing him to return to officiating.
Munuera faced backlash from Real Madrid's coach Carlo Ancelotti and Bellingham, who claimed the referee had “misunderstood” his use of an English expletive in response to one of his calls. With only ten players, Madrid ended up drawing with Osasuna and lost their top spot in the league to Barcelona.
In defense of Munuera, the federation released a statement condemning the online abuse he received following the Bellingham incident.
This controversy arose after Madrid had already sent a letter to the federation, asserting that the record 36-time champions were being consistently disadvantaged by refereeing decisions. They claimed that “decisions against Real Madrid have reached a point that the adulteration and manipulation of the competition cannot be ignored.”
The federation kicked off a public awareness campaign on Friday aimed at promoting better treatment of referees. This weekend, you'll see signs that read “Respect the referee, respect soccer” at stadiums during first and second division matches.
Flick took the opportunity during his pre-match press conference before Barcelona’s game against Las Palmas on Saturday to address the pressure referees face. His remarks came without any prompting from the media.
“We have to trust (referees) and I think the federation has to show how strong (it) is,” he said. “They are human and it is normal that you make mistakes, and every coach and player makes mistakes, and we have to take care of them.”
Flick himself was sent off for arguing a penalty call in a match against Real Betis back in December, and he chose not to revisit that incident two months later.
“I think we always look for excuses, if we lose we look at the referee and say it is his fault,” Flick said. “But everyone makes mistakes, me, you and maybe a referee, but at the end we have to protect them because we can’t play without referees.”
Barcelona will be looking to bounce back from a surprising loss to Las Palmas at home last November.
Madrid aims to break its losing streak
Madrid will be missing the suspended Bellingham when they take on Girona on Sunday, hoping to snap a three-game winless streak in the league. They currently sit in second place, just behind Barcelona on goal difference.
On the bright side, they’ll have a fired-up Kylian Mbappé, who recently netted a hat trick to help knock Manchester City out of the Champions League knockout rounds.