Pau Cubarsí’s red card against Atlético Madrid has reignited the debate around refereeing trends involving Barcelona and Real Madrid across competitions.
The Barça defender was sent off in the 44th minute after bringing down Giuliano Simeone as the last man. The resulting free kick was converted by Julián Álvarez, helping Atlético secure a 2-0 win in the first leg.
While Barcelona enjoy a strong red card balance in La Liga (+31 over the last decade), the trend flips in the UEFA Champions League. In Europe, Barça have had 12 players sent off and only seen opponents reduced to 10 men five times—a negative balance of -7.
In contrast, Real Madrid show the opposite pattern. Domestically, they hold a nearly neutral balance (-1), but in the Champions League they benefit significantly, with a +10 differential (16 red cards for opponents vs 6 against).
Atlético Madrid also present an interesting contrast, with a -15 balance in La Liga but +3 in Europe.
These numbers highlight a striking disparity between domestic and European officiating trends, reopening discussion about how Spanish clubs are refereed depending on the competition.
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| LA LIGA | CHAMPIONS LEAGUE | |||
| POS | TEAM | M | +/- | P |
| 1 | Barcelona | 29 | 50 | 73 |
| 2 | Real Madrid | 29 | 37 | 69 |
| 3 | Villarreal | 29 | 20 | 58 |
| 4 | Atletico Madrid | 29 | 21 | 57 |
| 5 | Real Betis | 29 | 7 | 44 |
| 6 | Celta Vigo | 29 | 6 | 41 |
| 7 | Real Sociedad | 29 | -1 | 38 |
| 8 | Getafe | 29 | -6 | 38 |
| 9 | Athletic Club | 29 | -9 | 38 |
| 10 | Osasuna | 29 | -1 | 37 |
| 11 | Espanyol | 29 | -8 | 37 |
| 12 | Valencia | 29 | -10 | 35 |
| 13 | Girona | 29 | -13 | 34 |
| 14 | Rayo Vallecano | 29 | -7 | 32 |
| 15 | Sevilla | 29 | -12 | 31 |
| 16 | Alaves | 29 | -11 | 31 |
| 17 | Elche | 29 | -8 | 29 |
| 18 | Mallorca | 29 | -13 | 28 |
| 19 | Levante | 29 | -14 | 26 |
| 20 | Oviedo | 29 | -28 | 21 |
| POS | TEAM | M | +/- | P |
| 1 | Arsenal | 8 | 19 | 24 |
| 2 | Bayern München | 8 | 14 | 21 |
| 3 | Liverpool | 8 | 12 | 18 |
| 4 | Tottenham | 8 | 10 | 17 |
| 5 | Barcelona | 8 | 8 | 16 |
| 6 | Chelsea | 8 | 7 | 16 |
| 7 | Sporting CP | 8 | 6 | 16 |
| 8 | Manchester City | 8 | 6 | 16 |
| 9 | Real Madrid | 8 | 9 | 15 |
| 10 | Inter | 8 | 8 | 15 |
| 11 | Paris Saint Germain | 8 | 10 | 14 |
| 12 | Newcastle | 8 | 10 | 14 |
| 13 | Juventus | 8 | 4 | 13 |
| 14 | Atletico Madrid | 8 | 2 | 13 |
| 15 | Atalanta | 8 | 0 | 13 |
| 16 | Bayer Leverkusen | 8 | -1 | 12 |
| 17 | Borussia Dortmund | 8 | 2 | 11 |
| 18 | Olympiakos Piraeus | 8 | -4 | 11 |
| 19 | Club Brugge KV | 8 | -2 | 10 |
| 20 | Galatasaray | 8 | -2 | 10 |
| 21 | Monaco | 8 | -6 | 10 |
| 22 | Qarabag | 8 | -8 | 10 |
| 23 | Bodo/Glimt | 8 | -1 | 9 |
| 24 | Benfica | 8 | -2 | 9 |
| 25 | Marseille | 8 | -3 | 9 |
| 26 | Pafos | 8 | -3 | 9 |
| 27 | Union St. Gilloise | 8 | -9 | 9 |
| 28 | PSV Eindhoven | 8 | 0 | 8 |
| 29 | Athletic Club | 8 | -5 | 8 |
| 30 | Napoli | 8 | -6 | 8 |
| 31 | FC Copenhagen | 8 | -9 | 8 |
| 32 | Ajax | 8 | -13 | 6 |
| 33 | Eintracht Frankfurt | 8 | -11 | 4 |
| 34 | Slavia Praha | 8 | -14 | 3 |
| 35 | Villarreal | 8 | -13 | 1 |
| 36 | Kairat Almaty | 8 | -15 | 1 |
| LA LIGA | CHAMPIONS LEAGUE | |
| Kylian Mbappé | 23 Goals | Real Madrid |
| V. Muriqi | 19 Goals | Mallorca |
| A. Budimir | 15 Goals | Osasuna |
| Lamine Yamal | 14 Goals | Barcelona |
| Ferran Torres | 12 Goals | Barcelona |
| Kylian Mbappé | 14 Goals | Real Madrid |
| H. Kane | 11 Goals | Bayern München |
| A. Gordon | 10 Goals | Newcastle |
| J. Álvarez | 9 Goals | Atletico Madrid |
| K. Kvaratskhelia | 8 Goals | Paris Saint Germain |
