Spanish tennis star and longtime Real Madrid supporter, Rafael Nadal has put himself in the middle of a soccer controversy in Madrid after he was spotted with an Atletico Madrid jersey during the club’s Europa League match against Arsenal last week.

Nadal was captured on camera with the jersey around his neck during Atletico’s 1-0 win at the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium last week Thursday, a result that allowed Atletico to reach the trial of Europe’s second-tiered club competition where they would face Marseille of France.

He could not avoid the issue which has been making headlines across Spain and attracting a wave of social media reactions from fans of both rival teams when he arrived the country for this week’s Madrid Open.

“Well, there is a problem with today’s society, that to be a true supporter of one team, it seems that you have to be anti another team,” Nadal said.

“I just support Real Madrid, I have a lot of friends that are from Atletico. They are playing in a competition in Europe against an English team. I just went there to support Atletico Madrid. They invited me. I just wanted to enjoy the day, to see a great football match.

“The President (of Atletico) gave me a T-shirt as a gift. At night it was a bit chilly, a little bit cold, and I just used it as a scarf. May be there’s so much hypocrisy, or I would say you people in the media have to write too many things, so you have to explore some stupid things,” Nadal added.