Was Michael Oliver the bad guy in the Juventus story or the good guy in the Real Madrid story. In hindsight he was probably the latter but that hasn't helped Zinedine Zidane be any happier with the reaction.
On first look the penalty in the dying minutes that Michael Oliver gave to Real Madrid against Juventus looked harsh and soft but without the emotion of wanting to see a famous comeback it was the correct decision.
Zidane's ultimate Premier League XI is pretty good:
As was his awarding of a red card to Gianluigi Buffon. The Juve goalkeeper will remain a legend but the way he handled himself and berated the English ref certainly deserved an early bath.
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The rhetoric from Juve, and some fans, after the game has been about how the Old Lady didn't deserve to concede the penalty mainly because of how they'd comeback from 3-0 to level at 3-3 on aggregate.
Speaking before the game against Malaga on Sunday Real manager Zinedine Zidane told press, via AS, that he wasn't happy with the embarrassing reaction to the penalty, saying:
"It's embarrassing when people talk about a robbery. I'm really disappointed with what's been said. Not about the penalty because that's down to interpretation, for me it is and the referee gave it, but the stuff about the robbery. That has to stop.
"Everyone has their own opinion on whether it was a penalty or not, I'm not going to discuss that, but I'm angry that people are talking of a robbery.
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"What we're doing annoys a lot of people. I'm going to defend my players. They played brilliantly and deserved to go through, no doubt."
Alessandro Del Piero Attacks Gianluigi Buffon Over His Post-Match Comments About Referee
Alessandro Del Piero has criticised Gianluigi Buffon for his comments about referee Michael Oliver after Real Madrid vs Juventus on Wednesday evening.
Buffon was especially critical of the English official after he awarded Real Madrid a last minute penalty in the second leg of their Champions League tie.
Madrid striker Cristiano Ronaldo went on to convert the spot-kick that would go on to eliminate Juventus from the Champions League
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Speaking about Oliver after the game, Buffon said:
"Clearly you cannot have a heart in your chest, but a bag of rubbish. On top of that, if you don't have the character to walk on a pitch like this in a stadium like this, you can sit in the stands with your wife, your kids, having your drink and eating crisps.
"You cannot ruin the dreams of a team. I could've told the referee anything at that moment, but he had to understand the degree of the disaster he was creating.
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"If you can't handle the pressure and have the courage to make a decision, then you should just sit in the stands and eat your crisps."
Del Piero, who featured 706 times for Juventus, was critical of his former teammates behavior after the match:
"When Gigi spoke about the referee I couldn't understand him, honestly," the former Italy international said on Sky Sport Italia .
"I don't understand why he talked about the previous fixture. In football you analyse the present.
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"I understand it's a frustrating situation but I think he will think about what he said and possibly say different words in a few days."
Whether you agree with Buffon's comments or not, his harsh words were certainly out of character. The 40-year-old shot stopper has developed a strong reputation for fair play and class over more than two decades in the game.
Topics: Football News, zidane, Juventus, Buffon, Champions League, Real Madrid
