Spain's Technical Committee of Referees has settled the row over Pablo Maffeo's challenge on Kylian Mbappé during last Saturday's clash at the Mestalla. The committee backed referee Alejandro Hernández Hernández's decision to show only a yellow card to the Valencia defender, despite loud demands from the Real Madrid bench for a red.
Real Madrid's players were furious, convinced Maffeo's challenge had denied Mbappé a clear goalscoring opportunity. A section of the Valencia support, meanwhile, felt the contact was no foul at all. The Technical Committee of Referees then stepped in to explain their interpretation and confirm the referee had got it right.
Los Blancos ran out 3-0 winners at the Mestalla in the twelfth round of the Spanish league, but the storm around Maffeo's challenge on Mbappé had brewed before the opener. Real Madrid's players could not believe the referee had settled for a yellow.
The programme "Tiempo de Revisión", on the Spanish Federation's official page on "X", picked apart the incident in Tuesday's episode. It asked what the correct sanction for Maffeo's challenge on Mbappé should have been, then laid out the committee's interpretation: a direct free kick and a yellow card.
According to the website of radio station "Cadena SER", the committee explained that the striker and the defender went up for an aerial ball. Maffeo, though, pushed Mbappé from behind and brought him to the ground. That was a foul.
What the committee ruled out was a sending off for denying a clear goalscoring opportunity. Mbappé was not in control of the ball when the challenge came in, so there was nothing to warrant a red card for the Valencia defender.
On that basis, the committee decided Maffeo's challenge had stopped a promising Real Madrid attack, which justified the yellow card. The verdict ends the controversy over Alejandro Hernández Hernández's decision. The Technical Committee stood by him, despite Real Madrid's objections and the split opinions over the incident.