Cucurella urges referee to review Pau Navarro’s challenge on Mbappé

“Check it, he went in to smash him” — Marc Cucurella presses the point in footage from referee Díaz de Mera’s RefCam after Pau Navarro’s challenge on Mbappé. The referee awarded a foul, but the left-back went over to ask for more.

“Check it, because he went in to smash him. He wanted to smash him. It was heading towards goal; intent matters,” Cucurella tells him, stressing the danger of the challenge and what he viewed as its intent. The Madrid-Villarreal video, released in recent days, also captures him speaking up during several heated moments in the match.

At another point, Cucurella tells Díaz de Mera: “You’re not getting a single decision right, are you?” Pau Navarro then appears to protest that the Madrid players go down when fouled. Cucurella replies: “Go on, get out of here. What would you know? You should be at home.”

Cucurella arrived at Real Madrid this summer as a world champion and left-back. In Saturday’s Madrid-Villarreal match, he also took on the role of defending his team’s case with the referee. He was among the most active players in the protests directed at the officials throughout the game, amid mounting tension over the refereeing at the Bernabéu and in the dressing room.