The stoppage due to the "Asencio, die!" and Ancelotti's substitution because "Raúl was affected": "We condemn the insults, there are other ways"

Raúl Asencio stayed in the dressing room at half-time between Real Sociedad and Real Madrid in the first leg of the Copa del Rey semi-final. He had been shown a dangerous yellow card and Carlo Ancelotti decided it was better to bring on Lucas Vázquez , but that was not the only reason. The Italian coach admitted that the Real Madrid youth player "was affected" by the chants directed at him by part of the Reale Arena stands. " Asencio, die !" a section of the crowd chanted on several occasions.

In response to these events, Vinicius Júnior , captain of Madrid for the first time, warned Sánchez Martínez , to which the referee of the match responded by stopping the match and activating the protocol against racism, xenophobia and intolerance . The match was stopped for a few minutes, the referee spoke to the captains and coaches and a message was broadcast over the megaphone and video scoreboards rejecting any type of insult in this sense. After the third warning, the match would be suspended.

Sánchez Martínez's decision is a novelty, because until now matches had only been temporarily stopped due to racist insults and to broadcast that message over the loudspeaker. This has happened on other occasions with Vinicius Júnior or Nico Williams , but not due to insults of a personal nature. In fact, a year ago, a section of the El Sadar fans sang " Vinicius, die " to Vinicius, and Carvajal , Madrid's captain that day, warned Martínez Munuera , but the referee did not stop the match or reflect it in the scoresheet.

"Nobody likes to be sung 'die'"

With this action, the Technical Committee of Referees follows the guidelines of the Federation and LaLiga, which in recent months have expanded their mechanisms to end hatred in Spanish football stadiums.

"I think the right thing was done. Vinicius warned the referee and he did what had to be done. The right thing was done. Raúl was affected , I substituted him because of that and because of the yellow card. Nobody likes to hear 'die' chanted at them in a stadium," Ancelotti explained in the press room.

The research

Asencio's personal situation has been in the spotlight for a few months now. The youth player is one of those under investigation in a case involving the alleged recording and distribution of a video with sexual content involving a minor under 16 years of age . Asencio had requested that the case against him be dropped, but this was rejected and he remains under investigation for the alleged distribution.

Madrid has expelled all those accused in the case except the centre-back, who maintains that he did not participate in the recording or the broadcast. The rest are out and some, like Ferran Ruiz, have already made their debut with LaLiga teams such as Girona.

Asencio , meanwhile, has been given opportunities by Ancelotti in the face of the plague of injuries and has been booed in many stadiums, the latest being the Reale Arena, and rivals such as Maffeo have used the judicial investigation to attack him on the pitch: " Go and distribute videos, you moron ," the defender told him in the Spanish Super Cup.

"There are other ways to condemn the facts"

In San Sebastian , however, the whistles have turned into a " Asencio, die " chant that both Oyarzabal and Alguacil were keen to denounce. "As in many stadiums, what a few people sing does not tarnish the rest of the fans. Insults are condemned, of course. We don't like them. There are other ways of condemning the actions that someone may have committed. It is not the right way, it should be done in another way," reflected the Real Sociedad captain.

In the press room, Alguacil insisted on the argument: "If that is the case, because I have not heard it, condemn it, because we do not like to hear such things in any field , but our fans and our players are among the most noble in LaLiga. The behavior has been chapeau , as it usually is. Obviously condemn those chants, if they have existed, but I am proud of my players and the fans."