It didn’t take long for Juventus goalkeeper, Gianluigi Buffon, to voice his anger with English referee Michael Oliver after awarding Real Madrid a late penalty decision in Wednesday’s Champions League quarterfinal match. Here is what the Italian said post-game.
“A quality referee does not destroy the dream of a team that has put everything on the field for 90 minutes,” Buffon said while berating Oliver after Juve’s 4-3 aggregate loss. “He wanted to play the part of the protagonist.”
Buffon, like his manager Max Allegri, were noticeably frustrated with the penalty decision in stoppage time that saw Cristiano Ronaldo score the game-winning goal for Real Madrid.
The spin-zone and press conference rooms in the Santiago Bernabéu became a journalistic battle royale as media members from Spain and Italy clashed over the decision made by the referee late in the match.
Buffon continued with his heated words towards Oliver, saying, “A human being cannot whistle for an incident so doubtful after a game like that, unless you have a garbage bin instead of a heart. If you do not have personality, you should be in the stands eating chips with your family. This referee did not have the courage or the personality for this level.”
Buffon from the top rope!
In what could be his last ever match in the Champions League, the 40-year-old legend lost his cool after the referee deemed that a penalty was deserved after a foul from Medhi Benatia on Lucas Vazquez right in front of goal.
Buffon wasn’t done as he continued to lay into the British referee, concluding with, “I could’ve told the referee anything at that moment, but he had to understand the degree of the disaster he was creating. 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.”
Juve manager Max Allegri was more reserved than Buffon, declining to criticize the referee like his goalkeeper, but he still showed his disappointment in the decision.
“I don’t want to judge what the referee did,” he said. “I feel bad for the lads, who did well in Turin for 60 minutes and didn’t score the goals they did tonight. The penalty tonight was basically the reverse of what happened on Juan Cuadrado in the first leg… I said even at the time that incident would decide qualification.”
It is a depressing way to see a goalkeeping legend like Gigi Buffon get sent off with a red card in the final seconds of what could be his final match in a Juve shirt. However, I think the call made by the referee was correct despite the timing it came at.
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Vazquez was hit across the chest with the leg of Benatia and pushed in the back. There is no doubt in my mind that it was a good call.
While Buffon will disagree, I’m rather certain no Real Madrid will be complaining about the decision made by Michael Oliver.