The Santiago Bernabeu kept up its chants against Negreira, Barcelona and Tebas for close to five minutes. Then came the first controversial incident of the night, and Real Madrid were the ones who profited during their clash with Sevilla.

Catalan newspaper Sport reported that referee Mateo Busquets Ferrer missed a clear red card for Arda Guler after the Turk caught Pique off the ball.

A dismissal would have ruled Guler out of the Clasico. Instead, he walked away unpunished.

Sport continued: "The incident is clear, even though no camera showed a close-up of the two players grappling with each other. Guler and Pique were running towards the Sevilla goal, while the ball was a long way away from them, and each began to make contact with the other, until the Turkish player delivered an elbow to the area between the neck and the face."

Down went the Sevilla player, clearly in considerable pain. The referee waved play on.

Busquets Ferrer stood some distance from the scene, with the ball in another area of the pitch. A few minutes later he had his hand to his ear, listening to the video assistant referee team. They chose not to send him to the review screen.

Two players did see cards: Felix and Dean Huijsen, who clashed in the aftermath of the elbow.

Huijsen insisted on hauling Pique back to his feet, and Felix stepped in to defend his team-mate.

Sport explained: "Guler was the one who delivered an elbow, but it was other players who were punished."

It added: "What made it even more controversial is that Guler scored the opening goal of the match. It is a goal that will always be surrounded by question marks, because the Turkish player should not have remained on the pitch after his dangerous act in the 24th minute."