Bellerín questions two different refereeing decisions but refuses to blame the referee

“There were two contentious incidents: one was punished and the other rewarded.” After Betis lost to Barcelona, Héctor Bellerín summed up his objection to the way two incidents were handled. The full-back was among the Betis players who spoke to the media after the defeat.

Bellerín described the chances as evenly shared, in his view, in the first half and at the start of the second. Defending against a team of Barcelona’s quality was difficult, he acknowledged, but he felt Betis had enjoyed some control of the ball and that their opponents had not created enough. He then pointed to a handball following a push and an instance of dangerous play, arguing that the two situations had not been punished in the same way and that the decisions were unfair to both sides.

The full-back was nevertheless keen to reject any attempt to make the referee responsible for the result. He said the job was difficult and that Betis had lost, while stressing that decisions of this kind could lead to goals in a match of such importance. “I don’t want to make excuses with these injustices,” he insisted, urging his team-mates to take responsibility for both what they had done well and what they had got wrong, then find the energy to move forward.

Bellerín also addressed the sending-off. He said he had spoken to Facundo, who, in his account, understood his responsibility and had apologised to the team. Playing a man down against a team of that quality made the task harder, he acknowledged, but he believes Betis held its own until the closing minutes. With eleven players, the team had shown it could compete with the sides near the top, he added.

Looking ahead, the defender described a dressing room where players can be honest with one another about what is and is not working, noting that everyone makes mistakes. He called on Betis to put things right in the next match, with calm, ambition and energy, and to stay together. In his view, the team is having a very strong season and must keep itself among the sides near the top of the table.