By Andrew Warshaw
April 17 – It’s hard enough to beat Real Madrid at the Bernabeu at the best of times, even harder when you go into a game against them a goal down from the first leg.
Which is why Bayern Munich left Madrid understandably furious with referee Viktor Kassai and his team of assistants after being unfairly knocked out of the Champions League in the quarterfinals on Tuesday.
Real Madrid won 4-2 after extra-time to advance 6-3 on aggregate but Cristiano Ronaldo was offside for two of his three goals while Bayern’s Chilean midfielder Arturo Vidal (pictured) was ridiculously sent off when the Germans were in control.
Vidal was shown a second yellow card in the 84th minute for a perfectly clean challenge on Marco Asensio, totally changing the complexion of the game as Real, who deserved to be eliminated, went on to score three times in extra time.
“When they rob a game from you like that, it’s very tough. This error can’t happen in the Champions League,” said Vidal afterwards.
“When it was 2-1 they got scared and the referee started putting on his show. We played with one less man at home and here, too. The referee put us out of the Champions League.”
To make matters worse for the visitors, Casemiro should have been dismissed for a late challenge on Bayern’s Arjen Robben having already been booked.
“We’re very angry, a game with that much intensity can’t be decided by the referee,” added Vidal while Bayern coach Carlo Ancelotti said video technology could not come quickly enough. Otherwise incompetent referees will continue to decide critical matches.
“We had thought of everything going into this game – except the referee. It’s a pity, because it was the perfect game otherwise,” said the Italian. “Arturo’s card was not a card and then two goals for Cristiano were offside. We are not happy about this. In a quarter-final you have to have a referee with more quality, I think. It’s time to introduce videos for the referees.”
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