The refereeing controversies surrounding Real Madrid extended to Arbeloa’s Castilla side in Bilbao this Sunday. After Gil Manzano’s highly debated red card to Dean Huijsen against Real Sociedad on Saturday, Castilla also suffered another controversial dismissal in the Primera Federación.

In the 37th minute of the first half, Cestero was shown a second yellow card in a decision that stunned players and staff alike. The referee wasted no time in brandishing the card, leaving Real Madrid’s reserve team down to ten men before halftime. Arbeloa immediately called for the use of VAR — the so-called “low-cost” system that the Federation has implemented in Spain’s third tier.

After several minutes of review, the referee chose to uphold his decision. Yet the replay clearly demonstrated that Cestero reached the ball first, executing a clean clearance before only brushing against his opponent in the follow-through. Despite this, the expulsion stood, adding fuel to the growing sentiment within the club that refereeing decisions are consistently going against Real Madrid, even at the reserve team level.

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