'We have to protect the referees' - Barcelona coach Hansi Flick has his say on refereeing controversy amid Real Madrid anger

Barcelona head coach Hansi Flick has voiced his opinions on the latest footballing controversy in Spain, calling for LaLiga match officials to be protected amid a wave of harsh criticism from Real Madrid via their official platform, Real Madrid TV.

During Real Madrid's most recent LaLiga encounter, in which they faced Osasuna at El Sadar, Jude Bellingham was shown a straight red card in the 39th minute for allegedly saying "f*ck you" to referee Monuera Montero.

Following the game, Montero was a victim to online abuse and threats made by fans, prompting the Technical Committee of Referees (CTA) to issue a strong statement condemning the treatment of the referee.

That wasn't the first instance of Real Madrid clashing with the referees, as the club demanded VAR room audios from the Espanyol game at the start of the month, in which Espanyol left-back Carlos Romero escaped a sending off for a rash challenge from behind on Kylian Mbappe.

“It is very important to have referees. What they are doing with the referees in Spain is unbelievable," Flick told reporters (h/t Football Espana). "I don’t like it. We have to think about the families. We as players and managers have to protect them too. I don’t like to use energy against the referees.

“We have the VAR and we have to trust them. You have to change things, because they are human and it is normal to make mistakes. The Federation must show how strong they are, because it’s important. Players and coaches also make mistakes, and we must protect them.

“We always look for excuses. If we lose it’s because of the referees and it’s not like that. We all make mistakes, I make them, you make them, even the referees. We have to protect the referees because we can’t play without them. We have to protect them. We have to play better to win.”

The German head coach has guided Barcelona back to the top of the LaLiga table following a 1-0 win over Rayo Vallecano on Monday. Their upcoming assignments include a trip to Las Palmas this weekend, followed by next week's Copa del Rey semi-final first leg clash against Atletico Madrid.