Bayern Munich midfielder Arturo Vidal lashed out at the referee of his team’s Champions League quarter-final second leg against Real Madrid after being dismissed in the 84th minute of the match for two bookings. The second booking, given for a sliding tackle on Marco Asensio, did seem a bit harsh. The tie was locked at 3-3 on aggregate at the time and Munich were looking the better side before they were reduced to 10 men.
As the match moved into extra time, Cristiano Ronaldo completed a hat-trick to put Real Madrid through to the semi-finals 6-3 on aggregate. One of those goals, however, should not have been allowed as Ronaldo was clearly offside, as replays showed. Addressing the media after the game, Vidal said his side had been robbed by Hungarian referee Viktor Kassai at the Santiago Bernabeu, adding that such things should not happen in the Champions League.
“When Madrid got scared, the referee began his show,” Vidal said. “This robbery can’t happen in the Champions League. We felt it a lot and you start to wonder a bit. We wanted to go through and there’s a lot of anger in that a match of such intensity is decided by the referee. He made a lot of mistakes and knocked us out of the Champions League. When [referees] embarrass you like that, it’s really hard to take. It makes you very angry.”
Bayern Munich manager Carlo Ancelotti also reiterated the need for video assistant referees in football. “We suffered, we played against the best team by far,” he said. “We had many chances in the first half but then we lacked tranquillity.” Anceltti’s counterpart Zinedine Zidane, however, refused to speak about the refereeing. “The ref? I talked to Ancelotti and that’s it, I never go into referees. Anything can happen. We talked about other things,” he said.
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!