It was a tough defeat to take for Bayern Munich on Tuesday night as they crashed out of the Champions League partly courtesy of Arturo Vidal’s red card, which left the midfielder furious.
Having been given a second yellow for a tackle that clearly won the ball, the former Juventus man was left to watch on as Real Madrid tore through a visibly tired and overwhelmed Bayern.
“This robbery cannot happen in the Champions League, it was clearly noticeable and it starts to make you doubt [the game] a bit,” said the Chilean post-match.
“We wanted to qualify and this gives us a lot of rage, that a match of such intensity can be decided by the referee.
“He was very wrong and that has knocked us out of Europe.”
Vidal was in no mood to discuss the finer tactical details of the game, focusing solely on the refereeing controversies that included two of Cristiano Ronaldo’s goals being offside.
“When they embarrass you in this way it’s very strong and it creates a lot of rage,” he concluded.
Bayern Munich manager Carlo Ancelotti said referee Viktor Kassai “wasn’t up to the task” of a Champions League quarter-final and called for video technology “as soon as possible”.
“We had thought of everything going into this game – except the referee,” Ancelotti said.
“You can’t decide a semi-final spot like this. It shouldn’t happen at this level.”
Ancelotti, a former Madrid boss, also said current Real manager Zinedine Zidane agreed with his assessment of Hungarian referee Kassai’s “negative” performance at the Bernabeu.
“The referee probably wasn’t up to the task,” Ancelotti said.
“I don’t think Real Madrid have any influence on referees. The officials tonight simply got it wrong. I had never been in favour of video technology, but I must admit it’s necessary now.”
Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge accused Kassai of “killing the game.”
He said: “It was an extremely emotional spectacle, you can only compliment both teams. Our team has given everything, we must not forget that.
“It was great football, but unfortunately the referee gave some extreme decisions at our expense. The referee was of course the killer.”
COMMENTS