Spanish press divided over Istvan Kovacs performance in Real Madrid win

Real Madrid defeated RB Leipzig 4-1 in the third matchday of the UEFA Champions League main phase on Wednesday evening. The result left the Spanish club with nine points in the group stage.

Bernardo Silva, Arda Guler, Kylian Mbappe and Yan Diomande scored for Real Madrid. Tidiam Gomis scored the lone goal for Leipzig.

Romanian referee Istvan Kovacs, 42, officiated the match at the Bernabeu. His brother Szabolcs Kovacs, 38, served as part of the officiating team.

Spanish newspaper AS praised the performance of Kovacs. The publication stated that he earned praise despite having an easy game and reported that he had no problems during the match.

In contrast, Spanish newspaper Marca criticized Kovacs for his handling of the early stages. The outlet noted that he interrupted the game frequently in the first 15 minutes and whistled a foul every minute during that period.

Former referee Mateu Lahoz offered a mixed assessment of the official. He commented that Kovacs was pragmatic and handled the match well up to the 14th minute.

Lahoz later criticized Kovacs for inconsistency. He pointed to the yellow cards issued to Reitz in the 70th minute and Carreras in the 68th minute as examples of this issue.

Tensions arose on the pitch when Kylian Mbappe had a tense discussion with Kovacs. The forward spoke to the referee after being denied a foul claim twice.

Kovacs also managed interactions with the technical area. He firmly directed Jose Mourinho to stay in his corridor before the restart for the second half.

Mourinho, 63, had spoken positively about the referee before kickoff. He praised Kovacs during the pre-match press conference and stated he was satisfied with the Romanian official.

Real Madrid has a good record in Champions League matches refereed by Istvan Kovacs. This history preceded the latest encounter between the club and the official.