Refereeing in European competitions (continental refereeing)

[malg]

I heard yesterday that Barcelona weren't happy about the ref as he would let too much go, given the physical nature of the English game. Well that certainly didn't happen! I would also say that we aren't that typical as we're not that physical.

Pellegrini will be in the stand for the next game, and he'll get a huge fine. You can't go around calling the ref a cheat. Fans can, pundits can, journos can, but managed and players should steer clear of it. Very Mourinho-esque/Ferguson-esque.

 

[BringBackSwales]

Can anyone who watched it advise what did the commentators and "pundits" on itv say about the "ref" last night?

 

[Gray]

Summed him up for we when Fernandinho stooped to head the ball as the Barcelona player raised his foot above waist high to kick it and the ref penalised Fernandinho.

 

[warringtonblue]

Summed him up for we when Fernandinho stooped to head the ball as the Barcelona player raised his foot above waist high to kick it and the ref penalised Fernandinho.

Beat me to it !

 

[latherrarge]

The referee was a joke last night, early on in the game, I think it was around the 20 minute mark, Vinny won the ball of Messi fairly with a shoulder to shoulder challenge. Just because Messi is build like a piece of tracing paper he fell to the floor and the referee gave a foul against Kompany, for showing superior strength.
In the lead up to the 'penalty that never was' Busquets did exactly the same challenge on Navas and no foul was given.

If the referee was inconsistently rubbish then fair enough, when you show blatant bias like that then you have to ask questions in my opinion!

And people mentioning Barcelona's goal that was disallowed, wrongly, for offside, it was the linesman who raised his flag for offside not the referee! Very poor performance from the Swedish/Spanish referee!

 

[cheddar404]

They are truly awful.

Give me the Premier League's worst ref over European competition's best any day.

Games are stop-start-stop-start-stop FAR too much. They ruin the game as they fall for every trick in the book.

I've not enjoyed one European game yet. Take all the razzmatazz, money, "prestige" (replaced these days with money as I don't think prestige exists in the competition anymore, it's all about earning money), as a spectacle on the strip of grass it's played on it is a sub-standard product compared to the Premier League.

Games flow far more in the Prem, they are much better to watch.

-- Wed Feb 19, 2014 8:09 am --

Was thinking exactly the same. I don't think I've ever properly enjoyed a champions league match. They're so frustrating. Feels like you're trying to play in spite of the officials. We got the rough end of the deal last night but there were some fouls given for us that were never fouls too. There is virtually no tacking allowed in the champions league, it's shite.

To be fair to Barça they scored a perfectly good goal that was disallowed too.

I'm not on about biased refereeing, just awful fussy refereeing that ruins the game. Stop-start nonsense stopping two great teams from playing. I don't have much issue with the major decisions, even the penalty that was outside the box as it was so close to call at full speed. I think too many soft fouls are given in the Premier League but this is a fucking joke and ruins the spectacle for me. I wish I wasn't as addicted to watching City play as my principles are telling me to sack off the Champions League. I thought it was overhyped shit when we were outsiders looking in and I feel the same now.

 

[Allnightlong]

Summed him up for we when Fernandinho stooped to head the ball as the Barcelona player raised his foot above waist high to kick it and the ref penalised Fernandinho.

Beat me to it !

TV said it was handball....they didn't replay it so no real conclusion.

 

[Exeter Blue I am here]

They are truly awful.

Give me the Premier League's worst ref over European competition's best any day.

Games are stop-start-stop-start-stop FAR too much. They ruin the game as they fall for every trick in the book.

I've not enjoyed one European game yet. Take all the razzmatazz, money, "prestige" (replaced these days with money as I don't think prestige exists in the competition anymore, it's all about earning money), as a spectacle on the strip of grass it's played on it is a sub-standard product compared to the Premier League.

Games flow far more in the Prem, they are much better to watch.

-- Wed Feb 19, 2014 8:09 am --

Was thinking exactly the same. I don't think I've ever properly enjoyed a champions league match. They're so frustrating. Feels like you're trying to play in spite of the officials. We got the rough end of the deal last night but there were some fouls given for us that were never fouls too. There is virtually no tacking allowed in the champions league, it's shite.

To be fair to Barça they scored a perfectly good goal that was disallowed too.

I'm not on about biased refereeing, just awful fussy refereeing that ruins the game. Stop-start nonsense stopping two great teams from playing. I don't have much issue with the major decisions, even the penalty that was outside the box as it was so close to call at full speed. I think too many soft fouls are given in the Premier League but this is a fucking joke and ruins the spectacle for me. I wish I wasn't as addicted to watching City play as my principles are telling me to sack off the Champions League. I thought it was overhyped shit when we were outsiders looking in and I feel the same now.

Yup. Same goes for me. It wasn't howlers like giving Barca a peno for a foul outside the box that got my goat last night, it was the incessant whistling every time a Barca player was so much as touched. Kompany on Messi, Ya Ya on Fabregas, Dzeko in the box near the end, there were loads of instances of innocuous challenges that were ludicrously deemed fouls, to choose from.

 

[Gabriel]

Mentioned on another thread, the ref was in a poor position when Navas was fouled; similar position when he booked Negredo for an innocuous challenge in the first half.

One of the reasons I don't get too upset about heading out of the CL is because I don't think it is a level playing field and that's nothing to do with money. I've seen too many games where teams have seen games turn on refereeing decisions. Pellegrini probably thought it was behind him after Dortmund last year, so last night must have been hard to take.

But look at the Dortmund game last year. Everyone was going mad about the Dortmund goal but the Málaga goal that would have put them through was also offside but nobody ever mentions that.

Yes, true, but who went to the final?

Never used to give it much thought, but after the game in Munich a few years back I sensed that we would struggle to progress for a while.

 

[ianw16]

Totally agree with the OP. Same reason I can't be arsed with basketball. Slightest touch and the whistle goes. Toure strokes someones shoulder, free kick; Barca player does the same to Negredo in the area, nothing. Had to watch a rerun of the All Blacks-Springboks game from last year, just to remind myself what a 'contact' sport is all about. My rugby following mates call football 'wendyball'. Hard to argue, after watching that.