Accusations of favoritism have been a staple of Spanish football for years, with Real Madrid and Barcelona long considered the beneficiaries of controversial decisions made by referees.

Wednesday night's match between Elche and Madrid at the Martínez Valero Stadium will do nothing to quell that talk. If anything, it will only increase it after referee Muñiz Fernández awarded Real Madrid a dubious 95th minute penalty which was converted into the winning goal.

A tangle in the Elche area between Carlos Sánchez and Pepe saw both players fall to the ground. After hesitating momentarily, Fernández pointed to the spot to indicate the foul. Replays showed a 50/50 struggle between the two players in the box on the corner kick, a scene that plays out in just about every football match on the planet, yet hardly ever produces a whistle for such a transgression. In fact, if anything, a foul could have, or perhaps should have, been whistled on Pepe as the Portuguese defender clearly was holding the arm of Elche's Colombian midfielder while falling to the ground.

This all came on the heels of a first half decision by Fernández to not send off Sergio Ramos with a second yellow. Ramos had received a ninth minute yellow for a foul, and warranted a second for his takedown of Coro, but incredibly Fernández only signaled for a foul in favor of Elche. Although Coro’s progress was clearly impeded on the Elche counterattack, no sanction was issued to the Madrid center back who finished out the match.

This is not the first time that Fernández has been the subject of controversy this season. It was Fernández who refereed the Barcelona-Sevilla match that ended with a last-second win for Barcelona when perhaps full-time should have been whistled for previously, and also in that same match saw a Sevilla goal disallowed that should have stood.

It remains to be seen if there will be any further examination of Fernández's decisions and if he could be facing any type of suspension, but for now the conspiracy theories of referees favoring Spain's big two clubs will continue to rage on.

Twitter: @ArchBell