• Football
  • Boxing
  • UFC
  • Home
  • Football
    • England
    • Transfer News
    • Premier League
    • Champions League
    • Lionel Messi
    • Cristiano Ronaldo
    • EA FC 25
    • Wrexham
  • Boxing
    • Tyson Fury
    • Anthony Joshua
    • Oleksandr Usyk
    • Mike Tyson
    • Jake Paul
    • Logan Paul
  • UFC
    • Dana White
    • Conor McGregor
    • Khabib Nurmagomedov
    • Jon Jones
    • Paddy Pimblett
    • Joe Rogan
  • Other Sport
    • Athletics
    • Formula 1
    • MMA
    • Motorsport
    • NBA
    • Darts
    • NFL
    • Snooker
    • Wrestling
    • Tennis
    • Cricket
    • Golf
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • LADbible
  • UNILAD
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
Snapchat
TikTok
YouTube
Real Madrid are considering NOT playing in Copa del Rey final against Barcelona

Home> Football> La Liga> Real Madrid

Updated 18:58 25 Apr 2025 GMT+1Published 18:35 25 Apr 2025 GMT+1

Real Madrid are considering NOT playing in Copa del Rey final against Barcelona

Real Madrid are reportedly considering refusing to play the third El Clasico of the season against Barcelona.

Josh Lawless

Josh Lawless

Featured Image Credit: Getty

Topics: Real Madrid, Barcelona, Copa Del Rey, La Liga

Josh Lawless
Josh Lawless

Josh is a sports journalist who specialises in football and WWE. He has been published by Curzon Ashton FC, Late Tackle, Manchester City FC, The Mirror, Read Man City and Manchester Evening News. He provides coverage of professional wrestling and has covered two WrestleMania events for SPORTbible.

X

@joshlawless_

Advert

Advert

Advert

Real Madrid are considering refusing to play the Copa del Rey final against Barcelona amid a row with referees, reports claim.

Los Blancos take on their La Liga rivals in the third El Clasico of the season on Saturday but may not even fulfil the fixture following a shock update.

Real have been at odds with officials all season and sent a four-page letter complaining about two officials in March after a 1-0 loss to Espanyol.

Advert

And ahead of the cup final, Real Madrid TV posted a controversial video where they laid into referee Ricardo de Burgos Bengoechea and implied that he has an agenda against them.

They highlighted a host of decisions they believe he got wrong against them as referee and on VAR and even mentioned their win ratio with him involved.

In a press conference, an emotional De Burgos Bengoechea addressed the video - while he and his VAR for the game Pablo Gonzalez Fuertes spoke passionately about the abuse referees are facing.

"But I wanted to talk about the consequences of those videos, because for weeks we've been seeing referees being insulted on social media and our community being attacked," he said.

“We're seeing statements. The problem with this is the consequences of it happening. When some journalists talk about theft, what it entails is that the fans take out that frustration on the kid or girl who grabs a whistle and has to go and whistle a junior team.

Advert

“The consequence is that they then put a target on a teammate's head. We have to return to a healthier and cleaner style of football."

However, in an update delivered on Friday evening, El Mundo said that Real have boycotted the pre-match activities such as open training and the mandatory press conference and are even prepared to pull out of the final as they feel the referees are "unfit".

Real Madrid are reportedly considering not playing Barcelona in the Copa del Rey final. Image: Getty
Real Madrid are reportedly considering not playing Barcelona in the Copa del Rey final. Image: Getty

According to Fabrizio Romano, Real want the officials changed but the Spanish football federation (RFEF) have not approved the request.

Advert

In addition, it's claimed Real president Florentino Perez will not attend the official dinner on Friday.

The 15-time European champions have urged the RFEF to "disqualify" them but believe the governing body will act over what they perceive to be a "conflict of interest."

When Real sent the four-page letter and demanded the audio recording of the match in question, La Liga president Javier Tebas said the club had "constructed a narrative of victimhood".

  • Copa del Rey ref breaks down in tears in press conference after Real Madrid TV shows disgraceful video of him
  • Real Madrid face major sanction as 'majority of Spanish football' pushes for punishment during official meeting
  • Real Madrid star Vinicius Jr 'facing two-year ban' from football
  • Real Madrid 'want to QUIT La Liga' and seek 'asylum' in rival league in move that would rock world football

Choose your content:

4 hours ago
5 hours ago
6 hours ago
7 hours ago
  • 4 hours ago

    Erik ten Hag suffers humiliating defeat in first Bayer Leverkusen game and everyone is saying the same thing

    Erik ten Hag got off to the worst possible start at Bayer Leverkusen when they faced Flamengo's Under 20 side in Rio de Janeiro.

    Football
  • 5 hours ago

    Arsenal accidentally leak new signing that nobody knew about after announcing Noni Madueke

    Arsenal announced the signing of Noni Madueke but accidentally leaked another addition to Mikel Arteta's squad.

    Football
  • 6 hours ago

    Alexander Isak gives 'green light' for staggering transfer as agent 'begins talks' with shock club

    Alexander Isak's agent is in talks over a shock move away from Newcastle United.

    Football
  • 7 hours ago

    Manchester City plotting shock move for England star as Fabrizio Romano drops bombshell on transfer

    Word on Manchester City's potential sixth signing of the summer has emerged courtesy of Fabrizio Romano.

    Football