Referee Artur Dias could receive UEFA reward for Real Madrid vs Man City performance despite Carlo Ancelotti complaint

Referee Artur Soares Dias has been praised by UEFA for his performance in Real Madrid and Manchester City's 1-1 draw in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final on Tuesday evening.

After a dominant start from City at the Santiago Bernabeu, it was Real who opened the scoring with a cracking strike from Vinicius Jr. before half-time.

However, Pep Guardiola's side rallied and managed to level the tie before leaving Spain thanks to a thumping hit from Kevin De Bruyne in the second half. Although, in the eyes of Real manager Carlo Ancelotti, the goal shouldn't have stood.

The Italian voiced his frustrations with the referee Dias for not consulting VAR as he felt that City's Bernardo Silva took the ball over the touchline in the build-up to the visitors' equaliser.

This led to the Portuguese official showing Ancelotti a yellow card for entering the field of play in his protests with the Real boss demonstrating his anger in his post-match press conference.

"The ball was off the pitch," the Italian manager told reporters. "The technology said it. I don't understand why VAR didn't check it. The referee didn't pay attention to many things tonight."

Despite the controversy surrounding De Bruyne's goal, Dias was the recipient of praise from Roberto Rosetti, the president of the UEFA Referees' Committee and could now be appointed as the referee for the UEFA Europa Conference League final.

Kevin De Bruyne celebrating against Real Madrid

This is based on the fact that last season's referee for the final between Roma and Feyenoord - István Kovács - was appointed after officiating the Champions League semi-final first leg between City and Real, which the English side won 4-3.

Should Dias be appointed as the official for the Europa Conference League final, the Portuguese could be refereeing a match with another English side involved as West Ham United look to seal their place in next month's final.

The Hammers took a 2-1 aggregate lead over Dutch side AZ Alkmaar on Thursday evening with David Moyes' side having one foot in the final, with the showpiece set to take place at the Eden Arena in Prague on 7 June.