Champions League Real Madrid - Man United

[XMoshe]

So earlier this day Real and Man played their return match and I would just like to cover the red card for Nani.

The commentators of the program here all thought the red card was bullshit. I personally think it is more than justified. Did anyone see the match (or atleast that moment) and this the same/differently?

[Vortexx]

Retired referee Dermot Gallagher on BBC Radio 5 live: "[The decision was] harsh to say the least but in fairness the Real player did Nani no favours whatsoever. At worst Nani catches the underside of his arm, certainly not the ribs as the guy has gone down and shown.

"I can't reiterate enough that he [Nani] is watching the ball over his shoulder, there was no malice in him. At worst it was a yellow for dangerous play, but if I was refereeing that game I cannot se what stretch of the imagination where I would have sent him off for that."

There you go. It wasn't justified. Nani looked at the ball and tried to get it down. Arbeloa came flying through the air and ran into his foot. Terrible referee. You must really dislike United to think the sending off was justified.

[Aristocrat]

Ive never been a fan of united but that was sure one hell of a red card 2 give out..no more reffin in champions league for him

[Vortexx]

The overwhelming media in Germany said clearly it was a wrong decision and that comes from a press used to a league where every little contact is essentially a foul.

Even the Spanish press says it's it's a wrong decision.

"EL MADRID, EN SUPERIORIDAD POR LA INJUSTA EXPULSIÓN DE NANI"

"Madrid, with superiority because of the unfair Nani sendoff"

And this is none other than Marca in their frontpage right now.

[XMoshe]

Retired referee Dermot Gallagher on BBC Radio 5 live: "[The decision was] harsh to say the least but in fairness the Real player did Nani no favours whatsoever. At worst Nani catches the underside of his arm, certainly not the ribs as the guy has gone down and shown.

"I can't reiterate enough that he [Nani] is watching the ball over his shoulder, there was no malice in him. At worst it was a yellow for dangerous play, but if I was refereeing that game I cannot se what stretch of the imagination where I would have sent him off for that."

There you go. It wasn't justified. Nani looked at the ball and tried to get it down. Arbeloa came flying through the air and ran into his foot. Terrible referee. You must really dislike United to think the sending off was justified.

I do not care who wins or loses, in any match. I just want to see a good game. And yes I do agree he did not think 'oh lets attack that guy on the chest'. But what I see in the slowmo is that he tries to stretch his leg while his foot is on the guys chest giving him an extra push. That is my opinion, maybe he didn't think while he did that and just tried to land safely but still.

[Vortexx]

Retired referee Dermot Gallagher on BBC Radio 5 live: "[The decision was] harsh to say the least but in fairness the Real player did Nani no favours whatsoever. At worst Nani catches the underside of his arm, certainly not the ribs as the guy has gone down and shown.

"I can't reiterate enough that he [Nani] is watching the ball over his shoulder, there was no malice in him. At worst it was a yellow for dangerous play, but if I was refereeing that game I cannot se what stretch of the imagination where I would have sent him off for that."

There you go. It wasn't justified. Nani looked at the ball and tried to get it down. Arbeloa came flying through the air and ran into his foot. Terrible referee. You must really dislike United to think the sending off was justified.

I do not care who wins or loses, in any match. I just want to see a good game. And yes I do agree he did not think 'oh lets attack that guy on the chest'. But what I see in the slowmo is that he tries to stretch his leg while his foot is on the guys chest giving him an extra push. That is my opinion, maybe he didn't think while he did that and just tried to land safely but still.

Did you even read what I said? Nani did not hit Arbeloa's chest.

[heroo]

Man oh man, was I glad to see that red card. Ofcourse Real Madrid is the greatest footballclub in history, the royal club. Without it, we would have been knocked out of the competition. It don't know if it was deserved, but If you strictly follow the rules, the red card can be given. However, if you ask me personally, I don't think it was a red card. But I'm still glad it was given, HALA MADRID!

[Vortexx]

This made me lol. Happened at final time.

[BuDo]

Based on the footage I can't agree with the red card...but we have to remember referees don't have the benefit of reviewing plays like we do.... From the refs view point it probably looked like a clear and intentional foul....It's just the nature of the beast...

[XMoshe]

Did you even read what I said? Nani did not hit Arbeloa's chest.

At a diff camera angle I can clearly see his foot on his chest. Unless I'm completely blind I'd say he did hit him. Wether or not he got him on the chest doesn't matter though. He never should've stuck his leg up that far.

I say it was unnecessarily dangerous going for the ball like that and the red card was the right decision.

[omier]

Didn't see the match, but it appears Nani did look at him coming. So it might have been intentional, or just a poor decision. But since you cant make the difference between them, it's easier to give a red card.

[Vortexx]

Didn't see the match, but it appears Nani did look at him coming. So it might have been intentional, or just a poor decision. But since you cant make the difference between them, it's easier to give a red card.

Nani didn't see Arbeloa coming. Replays showed that. Nani looked at the ball and Arbeloa ran into his foot. It should have been a yellow. Not red.

The referee of yesterday, cuneyt cakir, follows Real Madrid, Messi, and Ronaldo on his twitter.

https://twitter.com/RefereeCuneyt

Cakir recent red cards:

Yesterday: Nani

Dec 2012: Cahill (Chelsea) vs Corninthians
Fifa club world cup final

Sept 2012: Gerrard (England) vs Ukraina
FIFA World Cup Qualifier

Apr 2012: Terry (Chelsea) vs Barcelona
UCL Semi

March 2011: Balotelli (Man City) vs Dynamo Kiev
Europa League round of 16

It's so obvious he's an anti-english referee. I doubt he's going to referee another English game ever again.

[XMoshe]

The way you reply it makes me think you're a Man United fan

But that doesn't matter. Yes he was following the ball, but he also did look back so he saw the other guy going for it as well. It was reckless and they punished him accordingly.

[Vortexx]

The way you reply it makes me think you're a Man United fan

But that doesn't matter. Yes he was following the ball, but he also did look back so he saw the other guy going for it as well. It was reckless and they punished him accordingly.

If it was excessive force it's a red.
If it was not excessive force but reckless it's a yellow.
If it was not reckless but careless it's a foul.

Should have been a yellow. All the professional refs who have commented on it agree it wasn't a red as well. Biased turkish, pro-spanish referee ruined the game. Real Madrid was Spain's only hope in the CL after all. Look at the referee's history. He always gives red cards to English clubs. He doesn't even try to hide the fact that he's a huge fan of spanish football. I doubt he's ever going to referee another English game.

[XMoshe]

I still believe it was red, you clearly don't. I'll just leave it at that.

[Vortexx]

I still believe it was red, you clearly don't. I'll just leave it at that.

Like I said, every single professional referee who has commented on it said it wasn't a red. You sure know better.

[heroo]

^

Because every professional referee has the luxury to watch it back 20 times and have all the time to make the decission. For referees on the field though it's a splitsecond decission.

[Fury]

In any other match i would agree red, but not when 2 world class teams are going at in the champions league. In these type of games they shouldn't hand out red cards unless its something extreme.

[Aventus]

I don't even watch "football" but you can clearly see nani watch the ball as its in air. Looks like he was just trying to make a play and someone got in the way.

[omier]

I think it was kind of a red, but I'm also never on Real's side.

[XMoshe]

I still believe it was red, you clearly don't. I'll just leave it at that.

Like I said, every single professional referee who has commented on it said it wasn't a red. You sure know better.

That is the beauty of being human. Just because they say it wasn't doesn't mean I have to think the same. And clearly not every single professional referee since the guy did get red

In any other match i would agree red, but not when 2 world class teams are going at in the champions league. In these type of games they shouldn't hand out red cards unless its something extreme.

Just because it's an important match doesn't mean they have to let things slide.

I don't even watch "football" but you can clearly see nani watch the ball as its in air. Looks like he was just trying to make a play and someone got in the way.

You can also clearly see him look back at one point. And even if he didn't he should know the chance of picking up a ball around midfield alone is probably 0.5% so he should have assumed someone was going for it and thus not sticking his feet in the other guys nose almost.

[Vortexx]

I still believe it was red, you clearly don't. I'll just leave it at that.

Like I said, every single professional referee who has commented on it said it wasn't a red. You sure know better.

That is the beauty of being human. Just because they say it wasn't doesn't mean I have to think the same. And clearly not every single professional referee since the guy did get red

In any other match i would agree red, but not when 2 world class teams are going at in the champions league. In these type of games they shouldn't hand out red cards unless its something extreme.

Just because it's an important match doesn't mean they have to let things slide.

I don't even watch "football" but you can clearly see nani watch the ball as its in air. Looks like he was just trying to make a play and someone got in the way.

You can also clearly see him look back at one point. And even if he didn't he should know the chance of picking up a ball around midfield alone is probably 0.5% so he should have assumed someone was going for it and thus not sticking his feet in the other guys nose almost.

You're ignoring everything that has been said; how thick are you? It was not excessive force, it was reckless, so it's a yellow. Every single referee who has commented on it said it wasn't a red card(along with a significant significant portion of the world's media). Cukir is the one who gave Nani a red. If you looked at replays, you would see that Nani hit the under side of Arbeloa's arm.

The referee is an incompetent ref from an incompetently run league which is well known for corruption and has one of the highest incidents of match fixing in the recent scandal, who has for some unknown reason been given responsibility for the biggest club game of the year when he is a known spanish football fan and has a record for dismissing players from english teams.

You clearly don't know anything about football, considering you referred to Arbeloa as "that player". Why are you trying to argue about something beyond your comprehension? LOL. 2/10, will already stop replying to your posts.

^

Because every professional referee has the luxury to watch it back 20 times and have all the time to make the decission. For referees on the field though it's a splitsecond decission.

Wrong, Cukir actually took like 20 seconds to think. Then gave red.

[Bartic]

I don't even watch "football" but you can clearly see nani watch the ball as its in air. Looks like he was just trying to make a play and someone got in the way.

Don't you quote football.

[heroo]

Wrong, Cukir actually took like 20 seconds to think. Then gave red.

He saw it only once and the reason he waited 20 seconds is because he wanted to consult with his colleague referees. Still you can't use the argument of ''all the professional referees said it wasn't a red card'', because they have the luxury to watch it a 100 times before making such a statement.

[TheDrop]

At a diff camera angle I can clearly see his foot on his chest. Unless I'm completely blind I'd say he did hit him. Wether or not he got him on the chest doesn't matter though. He never should've stuck his leg up that far.

I say it was unnecessarily dangerous going for the ball like that and the red card was the right decision.

Why not? he was inches from the ball when it hit the other guy's chest. It should have been a yellow, not a red
especially when this was a yellow card:

Thats the problem with soccer (football), theres no consistency, and theres no replays because they (FIFA and UEFA) want to keep the game "traditional", which apparently means for them to have incompetent refereeing.

Its really not the referee's fault, its FIFA's. though the referee could make it up by calling for fcking instant replays (like every fcking sport out there)

[XMoshe]

You're ignoring everything that has been said; how thick are you? It was not excessive force, it was reckless, so it's a yellow. Every single referee who has commented on it said it wasn't a red card(along with a significant significant portion of the world's media). Cukir is the one who gave Nani a red. If you looked at replays, you would see that Nani hit the under side of Arbeloa's arm.

The referee is an incompetent ref from an incompetently run league which is well known for corruption and has one of the highest incidents of match fixing in the recent scandal, who has for some unknown reason been given responsibility for the biggest club game of the year when he is a known spanish football fan and has a record for dismissing players from english teams.

You clearly don't know anything about football, considering you referred to Arbeloa as "that player". Why are you trying to argue about something beyond your comprehension? LOL. 2/10, will already stop replying to your posts.

The reason I'm ignoring everything you say is because I'm not looking at the refs history, or the clubs history or the matches importance. I don't judge the ref's decision, I judge the incident. You keep hissing at me to look at facts. I do look at the facts, the guy went for a ball with his foot 1.5+meter in the air on a place where he knows he wont be alone. Besides that he knows the other guy was coming yet he still took such a risk. Excessive force, no. Unnecessarily aggressive, yes. On top of that when he does land his foot on the guys chest/arm (what ever you want to believe it is) he makes a kick movement to Arbeloa which is more than enough to punish the guy with a red card. It may not have been intended but he sure as hell didn't mind giving him an extra push after he did hit him.

I know enough about football. Maybe not every players name, not that I care about that. As I stated before I couldn't care less who plays, as long as it's a well played, interesting and preferably friendly match.

Finally, I asked what you guys thought of the incident/card. Not what 'every' professional referee thinks.

/Edit: Yes Nigels ninja kick should've been red too. I know the flaws in football, that's why I don't really follow it because someone is always bitching.

[BuDo]

Did you even read what I said? Nani did not hit Arbeloa's chest.

At a diff camera angle I can clearly see his foot on his chest. Unless I'm completely blind I'd say he did hit him. Wether or not he got him on the chest doesn't matter though. He never should've stuck his leg up that far.

I say it was unnecessarily dangerous going for the ball like that and the red card was the right decision.

I'm in total disagreement with your assessment here. Reaching for the ball with your foot out like that is highly common in the game. If you play football you'd understand. He clearly wasn't aware that the Madrid player was flying in like that...If he was aware he would have most likely place his entire body between the ball the Madrid player (rather than just his foot) to ensure securing the ball for himself...

[Aventus]

What makes no sense to me is, he is clearly jumping for the ball and hits the guy after hes in mid air. What the **** was he supposed to do. Changing your direction mid flight is damn near impossible.

Maybe it's because I'm an american and most of us don't watch soccer but to me it looks like he was trying to do what he's paid millions to do, get the ball. Hell if the other guy didn't want to get drop kicked he could have moved out of the way.

[omier]

^Arbeloa wasn't able to change direction mid air either.

[XMoshe]

What makes no sense to me is, he is clearly jumping for the ball and hits the guy after hes in mid air. What the **** was he supposed to do. Changing your direction mid flight is damn near impossible.

Maybe it's because I'm an american and most of us don't watch soccer but to me it looks like he was trying to do what he's paid millions to do, get the ball. Hell if the other guy didn't want to get drop kicked he could have moved out of the way.

Because in American Football that is what you do too right? Move out of the way when the other guy is going for the ball?

@BuDo I did play football and I watch it more than enough to say it's not that common to do a high kick in mid air to catch a ball.