MADRID -- Sevilla coach Matias Almeyda blasted referee Alejandro Muñiz after being shown a half-time red card during the team's 2-0 LaLiga defeat at Real Madrid, saying "I'm not a clown in a circus" and calling for audio of his clash with the official to be made public.
Almeyda was dismissed with Sevilla trailing 1-0 at the break to Jude Bellingham's first-half goal at the Bernabéu, receiving a second yellow card in the tunnel, having earlier been booked on the touchline for protesting Muñiz's decision making.
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Sevilla's problems grew when defender Marcão was also sent off in the second half, before Kylian Mbappé scored a late penalty, and another spot kick award to Madrid was overturned after a VAR check.
"I'm not a clown in a circus," Almeyda said in an angry post-match news conference, when asked why he had been sent off. "I have a history in football. I have my history as a man.
"[The red card] hurts me, and I'm obliged to talk about it, because they'll say that I insulted the referee."
Almeyda urged the journalists present to seek the release of audio recordings of the incident, and said he had witnesses who could prove he had not insulted Muñiz.
"Today the referee was very bad," Almeyda said. "I congratulate Real Madrid on their victory, I'm not saying they benefited from it. But I'm against how bad the refereeing was. That's why I was sent off.
"[The referee] said they were tired of me speaking to them with respect. If there's a lack of respect, let's hear it. If there's rudeness, let's hear it. I have values."
Madrid's win will do little to ease the pressure on coach Xabi Alonso, with the team underperforming despite three consecutive wins this week.
"We know the moment we're in," Alonso said. "We're demanding and self-critical to play better, we know this isn't our level and we want to improve ... The priority was to win, but obviously some things didn't go as we wanted."
Alonso said he hadn't discussed whistles aimed at Vinícius Júnior -- when he was substituted late in the second half -- with the player, saying fans were "free to express themselves."
"I understand the game, I analyse it, I'm critical in a constructive way," Alonso said. "But I put today's game in context, in terms of where we've come from and where we're going in January ... Today we had nine or 10 absentees between suspensions and injuries."
The win leaves Madrid second in LaLiga, one point behind Barcelona -- who face Villarreal on Sunday -- going into 2026.