"He must do as he did with us – be a gentleman" - Atletico Madrid president hits out at Real Madrid star and tells him to 'shut up'

Atletico Madrid president Enrique Cerezo has hit back at Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois and told him to “shut up”. This comes after the Belgian criticized Atletico’s response to a controversial VAR decision in last week’s UEFA Champions League meeting.

Both sides fought to the death in the Round of 16, eventually going to penalties after a 2-2 scoreline on aggregate across two legs. The dispute came during the penalty shootout when Julian Alvarez’s spot-kick was disallowed after he lost his footing, nudging the ball lightly with one foot, before he scored with the other.

Atletico players and staff were incensed by the ruling but Courtois played down their protests, saying (via Tribal Football):

"I'm tired of the eternal sacrificial mentality where they always have to cry over such things."

Enrique Cerezo, not impressed, shot back at Courtois. The Atleti president said (via Tribal Football):

"Courtois has to shut up. He should be grateful to have been with Atletico Madrid. He must do as he did with us – be a gentleman."

Courtois, who played three seasons on loan at Atletico from Chelsea, was a crucial part of the team that won the 2014 LaLiga title and qualified for the Champions League final. Following his switch to Real Madrid, he has become a target for Atletico supporters and his recent remarks have further increased the tension.

Cerezo also used his comments to take a dig at VAR, which he described as a “conflicting tool” that had made football “more unfair.” He said (via AS)

“I don't like VAR, but I'm not just saying that now; I've always said it. I'm not criticizing VAR for the other day's error. Because it's not the referee's error, it's the VAR's error.

"I don't know where they saw that the ball touched a player's leg twice. VAR is a conflicting tool, it's unsafe, and above all, we all believe it was introduced to make football fairer, but I believe it's been introduced to make it more unfair.”

Atletico Madrid were knocked out of the UEFA Champions League while Real Madrid continued to the quarter-finals of the competition, where they will face Arsenal.

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Real Madrid face Atletico Madrid and Barcelona in thrilling LaLiga title race

Barcelona achieved a stunning 4-2 comeback win against Atletico to top LaLiga, level on 60 points with Real Madrid but ahead on goal difference with a game in hand. Atleti led 2-0 but Robert Lewandowski, Ferran Torres, and Lamine Yamal all scored in the second half to pull off a stirring turnaround.

Real Madrid remain in touch with a 2-1 comeback win over Villarreal, with Kylian Mbappe scoring twice after Juan Foyth’s opener. Now, Los Blancos are applying the pressure on their arch-rivals as the title race heats up.

Atletico now sit four points behind in third while Athletic Bilbao stay in fourth. With 10 games left, every point will matter in the elite fight for Spanish supremacy in LaLiga.