Dani Ceballos has taken a swipe at Diego Simeone after the Atlético Madrid boss suggested that Real Madrid benefit from refereeing bias in Spain.

Real Madrid have been involved in a lot of controversy regarding refereeing decisions in Spanish football over the last few years. In the 2023-24 season, the 15-time Champions League winners were accused of 'cheating' Almeria out of what could have been their first win of the season, and the club has also often been called out for their attempts to pressure referees by posting criticism on Real Madrid TV.

Earlier this week, Real Madrid opened the scoring against Celta Vigo in the Copa del Rey round of 16 in controversial circumstances after referee Jose Luis Munuera Montero and the VAR officials decided not to award the visitors a spot kick, despite Andriy Lunin appearing to trip Williot Swedberg in the box. Atletico Madrid boss Simeone later said that Real Madrid always benefit from biased refereeing in Spain, which prompted Ceballos to have a go at the Argentine coach in the Champions League.

When questioned by the media regarding Simeone's comments, Ceballos responded: "I think Cholo (Simeone) has not gotten over the two finals he lost to Real Madrid. They have their opinion; we must continue to work and enjoy the victory."

But what's interesting is that when fans were browsing Ceballos' social media, they found a celebratory post he made the day after Atletico Madrid defeated Real Madrid in the Copa del Rey final.The content of the post is translated as: "I'm from Atletiiii"

Real beat Atlético in both the 2013-14 and 2015-16 Champions League finals, and Ceballos' cheeky reminder of those matches will no doubt have gone down like a lead balloon with Simeone. Both clubs are back in Champions League action next week, with Atlético set to host Bayer Leverkusen and Real welcoming RB Salzburg to the Santiago Bernabéu.