The “Penalti a favor del Real Madrid” is a popular phrase that has become a widespread meme across social media recently, find out more about it and its meaning in English and Spanish
Netizens are using the widespread meme as a joke about how Real Madrid frequently benefit from penalty decisions.
What is the ‘Penalti a Favor del Real Madrid’ meme and its meaning explained as it goes viral
The meme has now gone beyond football and people are using it in all sorts of creative ways.
‘Penalti a Favor del Real Madrid’ meme origins and meaning
The ‘Penalti a Favor del Real Madrid’ meme has recently gone viral across social media. The phrase literally translates to ‘Penalty in favour of Real Madrid’, and stems from the fact that Real Madrid tend to often receive penalty decisions in their favour. Many fans have started using the meme as a way to humorously express their views of supposed referee bias. The meme comes in different forms – social media posts, videos, and football banter.
More recently, there have been various discussions around penalties awarded to Real Madrid which have sparked significant debate. Real Madrid received around five penalties during the early parts of the 2024/25 La Liga season. This equalled a 73-year-old record, which was last set way back in 1951.
All these penalties, awarded against teams like Las Palmas, Betis, Real Sociedad, and Espanyol, played a crucial role for Real Madrid. The penalties often broke deadlocks or gave them the lead. One particular incident when a controversy arose was during Real Madrid’s 4-1 win over Espanyol. Madrid’s Endrick Felipe won a penalty after he appeared to get fouled outside the box.
The referee eventually ruled that the foul continued into the penalty area, and subsequently awarded a penalty-kick. The decision sparked a lot of debate, with some arguing against it, while others pointed out that the referee simply followed the rules outlined by Law 12 of the International Football Association Board (IFAB).
Versión extendida: Penalti a favor del Real Madrid pic.twitter.com/hbkKbVhyAR
— Ren Clips (@Ren10Clips) October 8, 2024
Amidst these controversies, Real Madrid have manged to capitalize on penalty opportunities and stay on top of the league table. However, the frequency of these such decisions has unsurprisingly raised questions about refereeing consistency.
‘Penalti a Favor del Real Madrid’ meme usage
While the memes started out as a banter against Real Madrid, netizens have gotten creative in using it. Netizens have started using it in clips or images where they accuse others of getting an easy break or advantage. The memes usually feature an image/clip of the said situation followed by a clip of a referee making a call.
— ‘Penalti a Favor del Real Madrid’ (@VARealMadrid) October 13, 2024