Originally posted by bartajax:Nicely done by the ref...... Hope Real will face Munchen in the next round and get totally smashed.
can't see where are the faults of Madrid in that card though no acting at all .. like we suffered by an Oscar actor a couple of years ago and still we passed the round (and against the "best team of the world")
as they say .. it happens .. it's football
red was excessive but not more scandalous than many others seen
other situatiions, both sides, were wrongly judged by the ref
I would say it was a yellow. I can kind of see where the referee is coming from though. It was dangerous play and the foot was extremely high, even to the point where Arbeloa had a cut where his ribs are because of the studs.
I think Manchester United handled the situation extremely badly, however. I know it's the heat of the moment, but Ferdinand clapping in front of the referee's face is extremely childish. After the game, they were acting like a school's boy football team. I can understand the frustration, though, because it was an extremely debatable decision by the referee and his assistants. I think those last four words are important: "referee and his assistants." It wasn't just the referee that made the decision, it seemed to be a joint effort or maybe the assistant thought it was entirely necessary to bring out the red. Maybe the referee was just 'passing on the message', as such.
Like Ronnie said, though, the referee had some other dodgy decisions throughout the game. Wasn't his finest.
I don't feel as though it deserved a red card. We'll see a few more challenges like that over the course of the season and they will result in the booking that Nani should've got last night. Refereeing across Europe is inconsistent. Arbeloa didn't make a meal of it, he got up and carried on with the game following treatmentand only Sergio Ramos had a word with the referee so there's no blame attached to Madrid. It was a genuine attempt to control the ball. He wasn't running head on at Arbeloa, he went for the ball and Arbeloa jumped right into the challenge (as he quite rightly is allowed to do).
Let's not forget though that United weren't the only team that suffered from a poor decision as Real Madrid should've had a goal stand in the first half and maybe a penalty in the second. In the end, they were fortunate that it wasn't an issue. Ferdinand obviously lost his rag at the end and as comical as it was, he should know better.
The game itself I thought was pretty good. Real Madrid certainly commanded the first leg, but I feel they did so less in the second leg. Ronaldo barely entered the game until after Nani had been sent off. Vidic hit the post in the first half and forced a top save in the last five minutes from a set piece. Rooney had a golden opportunity to level the game in the second half too. Overall, I think United were doing enough to see the game out or to extra-time at least with eleven men. Following the dismissal, Real Madrid pressured and took advantage but the last ten minutes saw some brave football from United, so credit for that. Vidic, Welbeck and Giggs all put in a great performance.
The behaviour of some United fans however was unacceptable.
