Here’s the other, controversial side of Saturday’s Clasico

We played it straight when telling you about another Clasico win for Real Madrid. Given the Merengues’ performance, they deserved as much. For all of Barcelona’s possession, they were never the better team. Real Madrid earned their 2-1 victory.

There were two points of controversy that deserve more attention, including one which will leave Barcelona fans feeling slighted.

Here’s how The Guardian’s Gregg Bukowski described it:

Barcelona are denied a clear penalty at the death. They have every right to feel aggrieved. Ramos clearly trips Adriano, who snakes into the penalty area and shapes to shoot. Ramos was nowhere near the ball as he dangled his left leg out and caught Adriano’s shin. Real break and the whistle blows …

Let’s accept the premise that Ramos’s foul was penalty-worthy. Most would agree. Does that mean Barcelona necessarily have a right to be “aggrieved”?

In one sense, of course. A foul is a foul, and Barcelona has a right to expect they’ll be called just like they’d expect an offside, hand ball, or dangerous play to be whistled.

But let’s not make too much out of this.

I would certainly prefer soccer not include these kind of nebulous, unfortunate situations, but when you’re preparing your team for a game, you have to account for the possibility of human error. It is a part of the sport, and if you’re leaving your team in a position to need every call to go your way, you’re occupying a compromised position. You have to enable your team to overcome these slights, and down 2-1 late at the Bernabeu, Barcelona had no margin for error.

The harsh reality is most referees don’t call potentially game-deciding penalties at the end of games. Players know this. Coaches know this. Officials even know this, just as those of us who write about and watch the game know it. You can say Barcelona should feel wronged, but not any more so than every other team that’s been in that situation.

It’s nothing special, and it’s no reason to feel particularly wronged. If Barcelona had experienced something complete unexpected - something for which they couldn’t have planned – then we’d have something to talk about. Today, however, they wanted a whistle few teams will ever get. That’s not a reason to be upset.

But perhaps that feeling contributed to another unfortunate late-match incident, once that erupted after the final whistle. Not uncommon to this rivalry, there was a confrontation after the match. Barcelona players rushed the referee, and Victor Valdés saw red.

That these players haven’t figured out a way to restrain themselves is huge indictment of the players and staffs. That it was Barcelona who seemed more aggressive after is an ironic twist. After two years of seeing a hyper-aggressive, physical Real Madrid instigate these confrontations it’s Barcelona, now on the losing end of these derbies, that’s letting their immaturity show.

Maybe isn’t not immaturity. I may be underestimating the influence of the atmosphere this rivalry creates. Perhaps these Clasicos spark unconscious, blinding rage whenever you lose. Perhaps it’s wrong for me to expect adults used to being in this environment to avoid acting like teenagers.

But it’s far more likely these players are just being ridiculous. Since the team can’t figure it out for themselves, the LFP needs to do something about it.