"Rudiger exaggerated, he dived.... It was too much to send me off"

Atletico host Real Madrid this Sunday in what will be the first derby of the 2024-25 season. Angel Correa hopes the official will referee a good game. "We want him to be fair to both teams and to referee well, we think that way," he said.

Not all referees have left a good taste in the Argentinian's mouth. Jesus Gil Manzano, for example, sent him off in a Real Madrid-Atletico game in 2022-23 after an action with Rudiger that, to this day, Correa still can't explain.

"I didn't expect to get a red card because Rudiger was squeezing my side to make me react. I got him off me, I wanted to get him off me, it's not that I elbowed him in the chest. And he exaggerated, he dived and the referee understood that I wanted to elbow him and he sent me off," he added.

The Colchonero player admitted that he felt anger: "I was a bit upset because I don't like to leave the team with one less and I didn't feel it was something serious enough for a sending-off. I was mostly angry at the referee because I felt he was being unfair to the team and to me in this case".

Asked if he believes there are double standards in the matches between Atletico and Real Madrid, he replied: "We don't try to think about that."