2 weeks Ago By James Stroud
Real Madrid kept their hopes of retaining their La Liga title alive as they edged out Getafe on Wednesday evening. After Barcelona's victory over Mallorca on Tuesday, Los Blancos went into the match seven points behind their fierce rivals in the race to be crowned champions. With games rapidly running out, Real Madrid knew only a win would be enough if they are to catch Barcelona at the summit of the table.
They got off to a good start as Arda Guler, one of the most talented young players in world football , gave them the lead after 21 minutes. There were no further goals as Real Madrid got the three points they so desperately needed. The game at Coliseum Stadium was not without controversy, though, as the game was briefly halted in the second half due to crowd chants directed at Real Madrid midfielder, Dani Ceballos.
Game Temporarily Halted During Getafe vs Real Madrid As soon as Ceballos was substituted on to the pitch in the 78th minute, Getafe's fans made their hatred towards him known as they chanted 'die, Ceballos'. Real Madrid's players were not happy at all and made the referee of the game, Sánchez Martínez, aware of the chants. The referee took action as he halted the match and made his way over to both sets of managers.
A message was subsequently sent over the PA system and a suspension warning was issued, which put an end to the chants. The match report from the game read, per AS: "In the 78th minute, the game was stopped to implement the verbal abuse protocol, at the request of the Real Madrid players, due to chants coming from a section of the home stands, located in the south end of the stadium. The chants that could be heard were: 'Ceballos die, Ceballos die .
' The game was stopped for one minute until the announcement over the PA system that the chants should stop, which they did.” The chants were condemned by Getafe striker, Borja Mayoral. Per MadridUniversal, Borja said after the match : "I think they are not nice for any player.
We have to eliminate that from football and sports. Hopefully it doesn’t happen again." Why Getafe Fans Hate Dani Ceballos Getafe fans' hatred of Ceballos dates back nearly a decade.
It all began on May 15, 2016, in a match between Real Betis and Getafe. It was the final matchday of the La Liga season and neither side had anything to play for: Betis had secured their place in the Spanish top tier for another season, while Getafe's relegation had already been confirmed. Ceballos, who was just a teenafer at the time, was turning out for Betis that day and he got into an altercation with Getafe defender Cala and a member of the coaching staff.
Cala was extremely upset with something that Ceballos had said to him. It was later revealed that Ceballos told him: "I hope you rot in the Second Division and disappear." Nearly a decade on and Getafe fans have still not forgiven the Real Madrid midfielder.
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