A “distraught” Sir Alex Ferguson was described as too angry to speak after Turkish referee Cuneyt Cakir’s decision to dismiss Nani sparked Manchester United’s Champions League exit at the hands of Real Madrid.
Red mist: Sir Alex Ferguson complains to the fourth official following Nani's red card Photo: PA
With Real
Madrid overturning United’s 1-0 lead to score twice through Luka
Modric and Cristiano Ronaldo sealing a 3-2 aggregate victory following
Nani’s dismissal for a high challenge on Alvaro Arbeloa, Ferguson and his
players reacted with fury at the end.
Cakir, who sent off John Terry during Chelsea’s semi-final draw against
Barcelona last season, was sarcastically applauded by Manchester
United defender Rio Ferdinand and Real manager Jose Mourinho cut
short his post-match television interview in order to accompany a seething
Ferguson to the dressing-room.
Ferguson refused to fulfil his Uefa interview requirements following this
game, with assistant Mike Phelan admitting the 71-year-old was furious with
Cakir’s decision to dismiss Nani.
“That is probably an understatement,” Phelan said. “I don’t think the manager
is in any fit state to talk to the referee about the decision. I think it
speaks volumes that I’m sitting here [in the press conference] speaking to
you and not the manager of this fantastic football club.
“We all witnessed a decision which seemed harsh, almost incredible at that
moment in the game. It’s a distraught dressing room and a distraught manager
and that’s why I’m sitting here in front of you now.”
Mourinho, whose team progressed to next month’s quarter-finals with the win, admitted that Nani’s dismissal was a pivotal moment in the tie. “I doubt we could win the match at 11 v 11,” Mourinho said. “Independent of the decision, the best team lost. We didn’t play well and we didn’t deserve to win, but football is like this. The best team lost.
“I think when you are talking about football at this level it is so finely balanced that to send a man off so soon in a game is going to have a big effect. It was quite a strong contact from Nani on him and was shown a red. He could have been shown a yellow.”
Following the game, United’s players also refused to discuss the incident, with Ferdinand conceding that the decision not to speak was based on a fear of saying something which could lead to disciplinary action from Uefa. But Phelan insisted that Nani’s red card - a decision defended by ITV pundit and former United captain Roy Keane - killed United’s hopes.
“We’re extremely disappointed,” Phelan said. “Everyone in the dressing room is sitting wondering how and why that happened. Referees are there in big games to make decisions. I think there is an element of doing the right thing at the right moment.
“We have to move on. To play Real Madrid, you have got a massive audience all over the world, everyone will now be wondering what has happened. A great performance has been marred by one decision.
“We felt as though we had the tactics right for the game and we were comfortable. We came out and scored the goal that put us in a commanding position. After that, there was reasonable control but then the game totally changed. The decision was amazing, but we had to carry on.”
The controversy surrounding Nani’s dismissal took the attention from Ferguson’s surprising decision to omit Wayne Rooney from his starting line-up - a move which appears to signal the beginning of the end of the forward’s Old Trafford career.
Ferguson claimed, prior to the game, that Rooney’s lack of match fitness was the decisive factor in his decision. Phelan insisted, however, that Ferguson’s selection of Nani and Danny Welbeck ahead of Rooney and Shinji Kagawa, Saturday’s hat-trick hero against Norwich, was purely for football reasons.
“The decision was tactical,” Phelan said. “In that dressing room, everyone was ready to play. The decision was the manager’s and tonight we had the balance just right.”
Mourinho, who admitted that Ronaldo was affected by the emotion of making his first appearance at Old Trafford since leaving United four years ago, defended Ferguson’s decision to omit Rooney.
“I think Sir Alex has won the right to have every decision acknowledged as correct and every decision should have no question mark,” Mourinho said. “He is the best, he has created history. You [journalists] are nobody and I am nobody to put a question mark in front. His team was very well organised.”
Mourinho, whose team progressed to next month’s quarter-finals with the win, admitted that Nani’s dismissal was a pivotal moment in the tie. “I doubt we could win the match at 11 v 11,” Mourinho said. “Independent of the decision, the best team lost. We didn’t play well and we didn’t deserve to win, but football is like this. The best team lost.
“I think when you are talking about football at this level it is so finely balanced that to send a man off so soon in a game is going to have a big effect. It was quite a strong contact from Nani on him and was shown a red. He could have been shown a yellow.”
Following the game, United’s players also refused to discuss the incident, with Ferdinand conceding that the decision not to speak was based on a fear of saying something which could lead to disciplinary action from Uefa. But Phelan insisted that Nani’s red card - a decision defended by ITV pundit and former United captain Roy Keane - killed United’s hopes.
“We’re extremely disappointed,” Phelan said. “Everyone in the dressing room is sitting wondering how and why that happened. Referees are there in big games to make decisions. I think there is an element of doing the right thing at the right moment.
“We have to move on. To play Real Madrid, you have got a massive audience all over the world, everyone will now be wondering what has happened. A great performance has been marred by one decision.
“We felt as though we had the tactics right for the game and we were comfortable. We came out and scored the goal that put us in a commanding position. After that, there was reasonable control but then the game totally changed. The decision was amazing, but we had to carry on.”
The controversy surrounding Nani’s dismissal took the attention from Ferguson’s surprising decision to omit Wayne Rooney from his starting line-up - a move which appears to signal the beginning of the end of the forward’s Old Trafford career.
Ferguson claimed, prior to the game, that Rooney’s lack of match fitness was the decisive factor in his decision. Phelan insisted, however, that Ferguson’s selection of Nani and Danny Welbeck ahead of Rooney and Shinji Kagawa, Saturday’s hat-trick hero against Norwich, was purely for football reasons.
“The decision was tactical,” Phelan said. “In that dressing room, everyone was ready to play. The decision was the manager’s and tonight we had the balance just right.”
Mourinho, who admitted that Ronaldo was affected by the emotion of making his first appearance at Old Trafford since leaving United four years ago, defended Ferguson’s decision to omit Rooney.
“I think Sir Alex has won the right to have every decision acknowledged as correct and every decision should have no question mark,” Mourinho said. “He is the best, he has created history. You [journalists] are nobody and I am nobody to put a question mark in front. His team was very well organised.”
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