It was billed as a footballing battle of epic proportions. Jose Mourinho claimed that the world would be watching Madrid and United, and he was probably right. Based on the amount of talk that the game has generated since, I think we can safely assume that it has lived up to all expectations.
Unless you’ve been living under a rock you’ll know by now that United lost 2-1 on Tuesday night resulting in a 3-2 loss on aggregate to Real Madrid and a Champions League exit. However it’s the controversial red card handed to United’s Nani while the side from Old Trafford led 1-0 that has garnered the most attention.
It’s unfortunate that in a tie between two of the world’s most glamorous clubs, featuring two squads full of world class players, it’s the referee who gets the focus of the post-game analysis. Whether right or wrong, referee Cuneyt Cakir has caused the most heated debate around the nation’s water coolers since Tuesday night.
First of all we should address the idea that this red card has cost United the game. Yes, United did lead 1-0 before the red card and yes, just 12 minutes after the sending off United found themselves 2-1 down and effectively eliminated. As their 10 men would have needed to find two goals to rescue the tie. But this doesn’t tell the whole story.
At just one goal down Madrid were still very much in the game. In fact they enjoyed the lion’s share of the possession and could well have found their way back into the game anyway. Of course we’ll never know now. It could also be argued that United were somewhat fortunate to be ahead after a Sergio Ramos own goal.
José Mourinho was very candid in his post-match comments, claiming that the better team had lost. I’m not convinced. Ultimately what this red card has done is rob us all of the opportunity to see how this intriguing game would have panned out had the sides kept equal numbers.
So, onto ‘that’ red card. Nani tries to control a ball that is dropping high out of the air and catches Álvaro Arbeloa instead. The overwhelmingly popular opinion seems to be that Nani should not have seen red for his challenge. But just because this is the popular opinion doesn’t make it the right one.
One man who has no problem whatsoever holding the unpopular opinion is former Untied captain Roy Keane who was adamant that Nani deserved his early bath. In the heated but entertaining post game analysis on ITV on Tuesday Lee Dixon suggested that Nani shouldn’t have been sent off as he was unaware that Arbeloa was closing in on him. Keane was predictably stern in his retort.
“It’s still dangerous play. Did Nani think that he was the only player on the pitch”?
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Roy Keane
Keane has faced a proverbial storm of abuse from angry Man United fans for backing the referee’s decision. That’s not really surprising, emotions were running high amongst the Untied faithful as they believe strongly that this red card cost them the game. It’s been reported that one fan actually dialled 999 from his home as he felt, in the heat of the moment, that the controversial red card was a crime(!)
Ultimately, both Keane and the referee are saved by the rulebook. When Adrian Chiles quoted directly from the rules on ITV on Tuesday night it was clear to see where Keane had gotten his ammunition from.
The rules refer to dangerous play alone, there is no mention of intent. Dangerous play is dangerous play. We can see from the replays that Nani never once looked at Arbeloa during the challenge, he didn’t know he was there, there is no way it was deliberate. But, as the rules state, intent doesn’t come into the equation. So the fact that Nani only had eyes for the ball is irrelevant.
Ignore whether he was trying to hurt Arbeloa, just focus on the fact that he was flying through the air with his studs at chest height. He didn’t mean to do it, you can certainly claim that he was unlucky. But if you try to suggest that he was unfairly treated or even cheated then be warned that the rulebook is not on your side.
I have no problem admitting that common sense would suggest that this was a yellow card challenge at best, but rules are rules. And the rules suggested red. UEFA have already come out in support of their referee, probably because he doesn’t have a case to answer.
Of course, even though the red was the right decision, it doesn’t stop it from being an incredibly unpopular one. We have seen our chance to sit back and watch this epic encounter simply play out in front of us evaporate. Great goals from Cristiano Ronaldo and Luka Modrić already fading into the least used parts of our collective memory.
We will always remember this as ‘that game with the Nani red card’. Let’s just hope that we get another chance at this great tie next season.
And on a side note, should these two clash again next season, I wonder whether Mr Ronaldo will be wearing red or white? When posed with this question after the game his ambiguous comment of “in the future you never know” paired with his cheeky grin leaves a lot to still be answered.