Real Madrid continue to battle Jude Bellingham's red card, with manager Carlo Ancelotti calling his two-match suspension “excessive and inappropriate”.
The 20-year-old England midfielder was sent off in last weekend's game against Valencia for scolding referee Jesus Gil Manzano for blowing for seconds before Bellingham scored Real's winning goal.
Madrid made their first appeal on Friday against a two-match suspension that was rejected by the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) competition committee.
Bellingham is not included in Madrid's 20-man squad for Sunday's La Liga game against Celta Vigo, but league leaders are not letting the issue go unnoticed, with reports suggesting that Spain's sports administration will An appeal has been started to the court TAD (Administrative Administrative Court). .
“We consider the sanction excessive and inappropriate and have appealed,” Ancelotti said on the club's official website on Saturday.
“He did not insult anyone as reflected in the report.
“They're looking into how Bellingham treated the referee, but I hope they don't single him out because Bellingham is protesting like any other player. In fact, it's worse. There are many people doing that.
“We believe this sanction is incorrect and that is why we have appealed.”
Ancelotti has also defended Vinicius Junior, who has come under fire for his recent performances.
“I looked back at the statistics and I have never seen a player treated so badly,” the Italian said.
“He gets kicked, he gets insulted, he gets heckled… he scores goals, he sets the stage. I think everyone should reconsider their attitude towards Vini Junior.
“Never before has a player of that caliber been treated so harshly. When you need something to look at, we don't need to make T-shirts.”
Despite being denied a win against Valencia, Madrid still maintain a comfortable lead at the top of the table, but Ancelotti has warned that his side have drawn three of their last four games in all competitions in recent weeks. He admitted that he had “relaxed the accelerator.”
“After the game against Girona, which was our best performance of the season, we were struggling and maybe took our foot off the gas a bit,” he said.
“We have to think about where things are going wrong, that's how we improve. We don't worry. We evaluate things in the most critical way, and that's how we improve. need to do it.
“We lacked intensity and good attitude on Wednesday, so we have to make sure we get those right tomorrow.”
Celta are in 17th place in La Liga, but head to the Bernabéu with momentum following their 1-0 home win against Almeria in the previous round.
