After a relatively quiet game between Liverpool and Villarreal, at least in terms of refereeing incidents, we were treated to a bit more of an explosive clash between Manchester City and Real Madrid at the Bernabeu last night.
There were almost too many strong challenges to keep track of, but I think Casemiro was certainly very lucky to stay on the pitch after committing two clear-cut yellow card offences in the first half of the game.
The Real Madrid midfielder produced a poor and reckless challenge on Manchester City’s Kevin de Bruyne.
It was Italian referee Daniele Orsato’s chance to stamp his authority on the game early on, but he didn’t.
Sí, Casemiro terminó el primer tiempo sin amarillas. pic.twitter.com/4du7MB610a
— Pablo Giralt (@giraltpablo) May 4, 2022
I think that was the wrong call, and it later led to a bust-up between Luka Modric and Aymeric Laporte with Vinicius Jnr grabbing the City defender by the throat.
Orsato cautioned both aggressor Modric and retaliator Laporte for his slap on the Croatian playmaker and I felt that was the correct outcome.
Yet Casemiro should have received another yellow card when he pulled back Phil Foden. It was another nailed on caution for the Brazilian but Orsato set his tolerance level too low.
I can understand that would be frustrating for Pep Guardiola and his players, but City can have no complaints regarding the penalty conceded in first half of extra time.
City seemed to lose their heads towards the end of normal time and the start of extra time, and that was a clear foul on Karim Benzema, who made no mistake from the spot. 43 goals in 43 games now for the Frenchman – what a season he’s having!
In terms of complaints about the time added on at the end, you probably could say the referee hasn’t played the full quota. I think what we probably need to look at in football is an independent time keeper and take it out of the referee’s hands.
I think it’s a fair criticism to make of the referee, with Real…
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