JUVENTUS PRESIDENT ANDREA Agnelli accused referee Michael Oliver of being in “total chaos” and hinted at a conspiracy against Italian clubs after a controversial penalty call saw the Serie A leaders knocked out of the Champions League by holders Real Madrid.
With extra time looming after Juve dramatically hauled themselves level on aggregate following a 3-0 first-leg loss in Turin last week, Oliver pointed to the spot in stoppage time when Mehdi Benatia challenged Lucas Vazquez.
Replays appeared to show Benatia touched the ball with a leg stretched around Vazquez, but the defender had also placed his hands on the back of the substitute as the Madrid man was poised to finish.
After Oliver awarded the spot-kick, Juve captain Gianluigi Buffon furiously confronted the English official and was consequently sent off, with Cristiano Ronaldo smashing the penalty past replacement Wojciech Szczesny to settle a dramatic tie.
Juve felt Juan Cuadrado should have been given a penalty during the clash in Italy and Agnelli did not hold back in his criticism of Oliver after the return meeting at the Santiago Bernabeu, suggesting the English official was biased and calling for video technology in Europe’s elite competition.
He told Mediaset Premium: “I see a series of countries that implemented VAR and I saw incidents that went against Italian clubs recently, such as the foul on Cuadrado, AC Milan at Arsenal and Juve tonight, proving we absolutely need VAR in the Champions League.
“This isn’t about one or two points, but rather going forward in a massive tournament that brings so much money and prestige. We can’t allow these incidents to occur.
“For some reason, the vanity of the refereeing designator is trying to scientifically prove he is unbiased and keeps assigning referees who are against Italian clubs.
“Players make mistakes, so do referees, but this official completely lost control of the situation. A referee in Madrid for the quarter-final must have seen the first leg, realise the [Paulo] Dybala red card was excessive and understand the various situations.
“The referee tonight was in total chaos. It’s a pity, the performance of the boys remains, we confirmed – as PSG did last season and Roma last night – you can come back from 3-0 down to turn things around. Incidents happen, the referee didn’t understand the moment at all.
“The most important thing is we have the technology, it exists and is in use, so we have to bring it into the Champions League. The referee tonight, when he sees it back, will be the most disappointed person here to realise what happened.”
Serie-A-sly?!
Painful timing but seems a penalty. You’re asking for trouble tackling from behind. The timing shouldnt influence a decision, its either a penalty or iant.Buffons reaction was over the top. The ref made the right decision on all counts. Buffon could have been the hero saving a penalty, instead it ended so differently.
The ref got everything spot on very sour grapes from juve take your beaten you had 180 mins to quality
Any articles regarding the penalty decision going up?
Sour grapes from the Italians. When I lived in Italy grapes like that were fed to the pigs.
@Sebastian Wilson: Don’t mean to be a dic. But you don’t know what the term Sour grapes means. Look it up.
VAR aside, the penalty incident would have been in full view of the official who stands beside the goal. What is the point in having these officials if the ref doesn’t consult them, particularly in a contentious decision like this?
@Sloop John G: On what planet was that a contentious decision?
@Peter Dunne: planet earth Peter, you know, the one that delusional Liverpool fans like yourself will be coming back down to in a few weeks :-)
@Sloop John G: So you think that wasn’t a penalty last night? Very mature way of debating that topic keep up the good work.
@Peter Dunne: take a chill pill Peter, very easily wound up this morning. Only pulling your leg :-)
Problem with VAR is even with replays people are still debating if it was a penalty or not
The losing of the game was probably juventus were so poor in the first game and didn’t register a goal ! Roma got a goal away and the ball was in their court . Michael Oliver was brave to award the penno , which it was . Madrids antics of rolling about is disgusting , earlier Ronaldo ran in to a player in the box and threw a hizzy when he didn’t get a penno , here Oliver was weak and should book him .?
Even with VAR it would have been a penalty, there was certainly not enough in the replays to suggest he would overturn penalty being awarded.Yes they should have VAR in CL,maybe it would have saved buffon making a fool of himself. Juventus must just struggle with how var works as they usually get all the calls their way in the league,just last weekend they got two dubious penalties to beat bottom of the league,team,one of which was an absolutely ridiculous dive by higuain. As buffon said himself a few years ago after roma complained when they were robbed against juventus, “winners find a way, losers make excuses”.
The man is as daft as bris5
Don’t be ridiculous. It’s just bias towards Real Madrid