Barcelona’s 17-year-old starlet Lamine Yamal demonstrated the maturity of a much older player when he was asked about the recent refereeing controversies plaguing La Liga.

Real Madrid have railed against perceived injustices throughout the campaign, with reports suggesting that they could even considering leaving La Liga entirely. Madrid’s fury with the nation’s officials has been amplified by the red card Jude Bellingham received last weekend for swearing at referee Jose Luis Munuera Montero.

Yamal has little time for such conspiracy theories. The fleet-footed winger insisted that no club – including his own employers Barcelona – should criticise any referees and offered a defence for those scrutinised figures.

“The thing is that I think that lately almost everything is questioned,” Yamal told Mundo Deportivo.

“There are things that are clear and there is no doubt about them. And I think that in the end the job of a referee is very difficult, that in the end if you call for one side the other is going to complain. And if no one complains, the other team that is not playing complains. It is a very difficult job.”

Madrid’s suspicions largely reside with La Liga referees – Ancelotti recently claimed that there is “less controversy and fewer VAR interventions” with Champions League officials. Those doubts have been piqued by the ongoing saga surrounding Barcelona’s historic payments to a company owned by the vice president of Spanish football’s refereeing committee, Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira.

“In the Copa del Rey the referees first favoured Madrid and then against Osasuna they went against them. Every matchday it will be like that,” Yamal continued with a shrug.

“I think that we cannot complain, Madrid, Barca and Atletico. I think that the referees try to do their best. There is not so much talk about matches like the one against Alaves and Leganes and maybe there are more controversial actions. But the referees try to do their best. It’s a very difficult job because someone will always complain. We are very happy.”

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