Real Madrid ‘are crying’ after referee Daniele Orsato was appointed for clash with Chelsea

Real Madrid have reportedly been left in a state of anguish after Italian official Daniele Orsato was appointed to their Champions League quarter-final tie second leg against Chelsea.

The Spanish giants lead 2-0 on aggregate after a comfortable evening at the Bernabeu last week, with Karim Benzema and Marco Asensio scoring either side of a Ben Chilwell sending off.

With Chelsea having struggled for large periods of the game to lay a glove on last year’s winners, extending their scoring drought to four games, few observers have given them a hope of overturning the deficit at Stamford Bridge.

However, panic is reportedly abound in Madrid with referee Orsato appointed to the second leg of the tie. 

The Italian was in charge when Real Madrid were defeated 2-1 by Manchester City at the last-16 first leg stage in 2020, just weeks before the Covid-19 pandemic ground the world to a halt. 

Real Madrid have reportedly been left in a state of anguish after Daniele Orsato was appointed to their second leg tie with Chelsea

The Spanish giants feel they have been on the receiving end of some poor decisions from the Italian

Luka Modric bemoaned his performance in the semi-finals of the World Cup – feeling Croatia were unfairly punished

That night, Zinedine Zidane’s side felt aggrieved at a number of decisions that went against them, including a penalty awarded late on after Dani Carvajal brought down Raheem Sterling and Sergio Ramos receiving a red card for hauling back Gabriel Jesus.

‘Gabriel Jesus committed a foul in the first goal and everyone knows it,’ Vinicius Jnr complained afterwards.

‘We have the VAR but the referee didn’t want to go and have a look at the play. I could see it from the sidelines and it was clear.

‘Referees always come here and make decisions against us on purpose, it’s always the same. We are the team that has won the most league titles and most Champions League, it will always be like this.’

Luka Modric has also experienced difficulties with the Italian while playing for his national side, not least in the semi-finals of this year’s World Cup when Croatia were eliminated by eventual winners Argentina.

The midfielder felt Croatia should have been awarded a corner before Argentina went up the other end, taking the lead through a Lionel Messi penalty. 

Orsato did however take charge of Real Madrid’s remarkable comeback win against Manchester City last season

The Italian is one of the UEFA’s premier referees and has taken charge of some of football’s biggest games

‘It’s a key moment in the game, he doesn’t give us a corner and he whistles a penalty, which wasn’t for me, because he shoots and collides with our goalkeeper,’ he said. ‘I can’t believe he whistled that penalty. That changes the game.

‘I never talk about referees, but today it’s impossible not to talk. He’s one of the worst I know. Not only because of today’s game. He’s whistled me many times and I never have a good memory of him. He’s a disaster.’

Orsato took charge of Real Madrid’s dramatic come-from-behind victory over Manchester City in the semi-finals of the Champions League last season, awarding them a penalty in extra-time. 

Overall, he has taken charge of seven for Real Madrid fixtures, with the Spanish champions winning three and losing four, showing 17 yellow cards to Los Blancos players in that time and one red card.