Real Madrid are under fire after their 2-1 derby defeat to Atletico Madrid, with talk of a crisis that runs deeper than the refereeing decisions that so angered the Merengues' players and fans.
Claude Makelele led the criticism. The former Real Madrid man sent a direct message to the club's players and coach Jose Mourinho, insisting that hunting for refereeing errors should not distract from the problems on the pitch.
AS carried the comments of Makelele, who refused to pin Real Madrid's decline on the referee and instead pointed to a lack of understanding and clear ideas.
"Do not look for the referees as scapegoats," Makelele said. "There is no understanding between the players, nor between the players and the coach. Mourinho needs to talk to them."
The former France midfielder added: "The team is weak, there is no game plan, there is nothing at all. Nothing, nothing, nothing. We have to demand more from them."
For Makelele, Real Madrid's problem has nothing to do with a single decision or the string of errors in the derby. It is about what the team itself produces on the pitch, with the absence of the ideas and plans that would let them impose their style.
His parting shot was blunt. Look at the performance, not the referee. "The problem is not the referee, there is a clear shortcoming in the team, and there are no clear ideas or plans on the pitch."
All of this lands as Real Madrid head into the international break beaten in the derby, the criticism of their displays under Mourinho mounting by the day. Barcelona, meanwhile, sit top of the pile, six points clear of the Merengues.