体坛英语新闻：Valencia united in protest at referee following Real Madrid defeat

MADRID, Jan. 16 (Xinhua) -- FC Valencia players, fans and directors are this Wednesday united in their criticism of referee Muniz Fernandez following Tuesday night's 2-0 Copa del Rey defeat away to Real Madrid.

Madrid won the game thanks to a fine goal from Karim Benzema in the first half and an own goal from Valencia's Andres Guardado.

However, Valencia were angry as that goal seemed to come after a handball from Real Madrid striker Gonzalo Higuain and Valencia coach was sent off by Fernandez for his protests. Meanwhile the referee failed to see a possible penalty in Valencia's favor while ruling out three goalscoring opportunities for the visitors by blowing offside when all three chances were completely legal.

Valencia are angry that all of those mistakes come on the back of a week when Madrid complained (wrongly as TV images show) of Javier Callejon having a goal ruled out for offside in Pamplona on Saturday, while winger Angel di Maria said in a press conference on Tuesday that perhaps not all of the errors against his side were actually errors, implying his side were deliberately being cheated.

The fact that so many mistakes went Madrid's way on Wednesday, coincidentally the day after Di Maria's press conference, provoked Valencia veteran, David Albelda to tweet: "The best Madrid player this week has been Di Maria, while Valencia captain, Roberto Soldado, who had a goal ruled out for offside when the two sides met in the league earlier in the season, shared Albelda's theory that Madrid had deliberately looked to pressure Muniz.

"I have a lot of doubts about some of the actions on the pitch and they have been confirmed that none of the offsides actually was: The pressure that Real Madrid have used all week has had effect," said Soldado.

"The week that Real Madrid have had in their press conferences has harmed us, because the referee was not able to withstand it and that's the way it is: There are players who are able to get away with a lot more than others," he added.

Valencia midfielder, Dani Parejo, himself a former Real Madrid player, agreed with his companions, saying his side had been prejudiced in three clear actions.

"They are key moves, all of which were blown against us," he said.

Meanwhile Valencia President, Manuel Llorente was also angry after the defeat: "The referee made mistakes with Valencia. I don't usually criticize, but today he gave three offsides against us and the second goal was handball. There were comments by Real Madrid players this week that clearly conditioned the referee," he said.

The controversy is likely to continue for the next week as the two sides meet twice in Valencia's Mestalla Stadium, first in the BBVA Primera Liga this weekend and then in the return leg in the cup the following week.