Several days have now passed since the derby at the Riyadh Air Metropolitano, but the anger at Real Madrid has not subsided.

Coming out of the 2-1 derby defeat, Real Madrid want to make it clear that they believe Ortiz Arias’s refereeing should be the main focus when analysing the match.

As reported earlier today , the Spanish capital club are shocked by the refereeing in Spain as they strongly believe there are double standards when it comes to how match officials treat them.

However, that does not mean everything else has been ignored.

Under pressure after the derby defeat. (Photo by Denis Doyle/Getty Images)

Indeed, according to AS , within the club, there is an acknowledgement that the team has problems in its play, while there are also differing opinions about certain aspects of the squad’s construction.

Nevertheless, Real Madrid believe the refereeing performance had a greater bearing on this particular match than any other factor.

Beyond Ortiz Arias and VAR, the Merengues openly recognise that the team did not play well and that its performances have generally lacked consistency and fluency.