Real Madrid and Atletico's derby exploded inside the opening 45 minutes of the seventh round of the Spanish league. Hard challenges, protests and refereeing controversy defined the first half from the opening whistle right through to the break.
Former Spanish referee Iturralde Gonzalez felt Alex Baena's challenge on Arda Guler five minutes in deserved a yellow card, with the Atletico man bringing his opponent down from behind.
He said: "It is a yellow card, because he struck him with his knee from behind. A clear foul."
Diego Simeone protested against Guler's reaction, who was in turn demanding a card, and the Atletico manager was booked for his troubles.
Guler and Baena were at it again in the 18th minute, and this time the referee reached for no card at all. Iturralde flagged that Baena's use of his knee was the more dangerous act, and he took issue with Simeone's booking too, noting that Real Madrid's substitutes had risen from the bench to protest as well.
Pubill went into the book in the 35th minute for halting a Kylian Mbappe counter-attack. A minute later, things boiled over: Jude Bellingham challenged Cuti Romero, and the Argentine's contact with the Real Madrid man's knee sparked a flashpoint.
Ortiz Arias flashed the yellow at Bellingham, only for VAR official Trujillo Suarez to call him over to the monitor. The referee then wiped out Bellingham's booking and showed the card to Romero instead.
Iturralde reckoned the punishment fell short. Romero's challenge, he insisted, deserved a red. "He tried to reach the ball, and this requires a red card. He planted his foot firmly and did not pull it back," he said.
The heavy tackles kept coming. Kang-in Lee caught Federico Valverde from behind moments later and went unpunished, prompting Iturralde to object once more. He branded the challenge hard, one that could have caused a serious injury.
So the first half of the Madrid derby drew to a close in a fog of contentious refereeing calls, with the violent challenges and protests having gripped the contest from its very first minutes.