Antonio Rüdiger had to be held back by half of the Real Madrid bench.

Ice cube thrown at referee: Rüdiger scandal at cup final

In his anger over the shattered title chance, Antonio Rüdiger lost his temper.

27 April 2025

From: cst/dpa

Furious in front of the substitutes' bench, the Real Madrid defender was barely restrained by a coach as he vented his uncontrollable anger at the referee during the dramatic cup final defeat to FC Barcelona. The referee noted in his report that Rüdiger threw an object, presumably several ice cubes, at him seconds before the end of extra time.

The angry German international saw the red card, a few moments later the 2:3 against the eternal rivals from Barcelona. In the end, emotions ran high at Real Madrid. When referee Ricardo de Burgos Bengoechea blew the whistle on Los Blancos' final attack for an alleged offensive foul by Mbappé, there was a commotion on the sidelines. Rüdiger, who had been substituted injured, protested with wild gestures, along with several of his teammates, and ripped the ice packs off his injured knees in a fit of rage. Lucas Vazquez and Jude Bellingham also received red cards from the referee for their verbal abuse.

Rüdiger himself apologized for his outburst on Sunday. "There are definitely no excuses for my behavior last night. Sorry to the referee and everyone else I disappointed," the German said in a social media post.

Discussions before the final

The referee had already been in the spotlight before the final when he tearfully reported at a press conference about the pressure exerted by Real Madrid and the consequences for himself and his family.

Ricardo de Burgos Bengoechea had his hands full with the Real Madrid players around Vinicius Jr. © APA/afp / PIERRE-PHILIPPE MARCOU

Real Madrid subsequently canceled all mandatory pre-final meetings and called the referee "unacceptable." A boycott of the final was even mooted before Real issued a further statement promising to compete out of respect for the fans. The scenes in extra time, however, are unlikely to have helped calm the refereeing scandal. And Rüdiger faces a lengthy ban for his outburst.