Buffon blasts referee Oliver after Juventus' Champions League dream ruined
Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon told English referee Michael Oliver he “has no heart” and should have been watching Juventus’ Champions League quarter-final against Real Madrid in the stands “with his wife and a Sprite”.
Buffon's on-field complaints came after Oliver awarded Real a penalty in the 93rd minute at the Santiago Bernabeu, after Juve defender Mehdi Benatia brought down Lucas Vazquez with a clumsy challenge from behind.
Buffon was then sent off for his protests and Cristiano Ronaldo scored the resulting spot-kick to drag Real through to the semi-finals with a dramatic 4-3 aggregate win.
“It was a tenth of a penalty,” Buffon said in a television interview. “I know the referee saw what he saw, but it was certainly a dubious incident. Not clear-cut. And a dubious incident at the 93rd minute when we had a clear penalty denied in the first leg, you cannot award that at this point.
“The team gave its all, but a human being cannot destroy dreams like that at the end of an extraordinary comeback on a dubious situation."
A clearly enraged Buffon continued:
" Clearly you cannot have a heart in your chest, but a garbage bin. On top of that, if you don’t have the character to walk on a pitch like this in a stadium like this, you can sit in the stands with your wife, your kids, drinking your Sprite and eating crisps. You cannot ruin the dreams of a team. 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."
Juventus President Andrea Agnelli was among those calling for the introduction of VAR in the Champions League following the match, and Buffon also had his say on the issue.
“You can have 18 officials, but it’s an issue of sensitivity. You have to have watched the first leg and what happened there, then on a similar incident in the second leg give a penalty at the 93rd minute…” Buffon said. “Real Madrid deserved to go through over the two legs, I wish them the best and it has always been an honour for me to face this club, but objectively we at least deserved to go to extra time tonight.
Buffon’s red card could bring a bad-tempered end to a magnificent Champions League career, with the 40-year-old Italian expected to retire in the summer.
