What was the refs name.........Willie Colum? Stonewall penalty for Barca in last minute. Clearly pulled down in the box and the replays proved it. Even Gerry Armstrong , who is as biased as get out towards RM admitted that it was a penalty Like watching a Scottish referee officiating one of the now defunct Old Firm games. Barca have to be twice as good as Real to win.
Exactly. It's ridiculously naive to believe refs in Spain can be unbiased in Spanish v Catalan football matches, either Spanish or Catalan refs. With the Spanish federation being pro-Spanish nationalist and very pro Real Madrid the officiating in the Spanish leagues is a farce. Barcelona receiving the worst of it. Many finding it hard to be sympathetic to Barça due to their favoritism in the Champions League. Naturally as a proud Catalan who was born in the city of Barcelona I must appear to some as incredibly bias but hand on my heart I'm calling it like it is. If it were the other way round I would say so. I keep my bias opinions (which obviously I have I'm human) to myself. The notion of bringing in non Catalan and non Spanish officials for certain matches won't fly though. So like you say, teams on the short end of the stick have to be twice as good
I have to say Barcelona complaining about the referee this week was fairly Rank in my opinión. The fading memory of the Chelsea semi final still lingers, and while Chelsea with a man advantage should have put that one to bed, the referee denied them repeatedly after the sending off. This week, Barcelona found a referee who favoured the opposition. I can understand the anger, but complaining to UEFA? They should get on with it. There have been times living in Spain where I've sat open mouthed as the two teams with the hugely bigger budgets and generally favourable refereeing decisions complain incessantly that 'the other team gets all the favours'! Try telling that to the fans of Zaragoza, Deportivo or any of the other bottom teams. The big teams get the big decisions, and to hear the biggest two whining hurts the ears.
