Barcelona players were happy that referee Michael Oliver awarded Real Madrid a late penalty during the Champions League quarter final second leg against Juventus on Wednesday.
They were also pleased that Cristiano Ronaldo converted the spot kick and praised Real Madrid’s team spirit during the game.
On Wednesday night, Juventus looked on course to cause a major European upset on as they overturned last week’s 3-0 defeat against Real Madrid.
Two goals from Mario Manduzkic and a Blaise Matuidi’s strike put Juventus on course to take the game to the extra time.
However, Cristiano Ronaldo was the hero for the home side, converting a controversial 97th-minute penalty.
The spot-kick was awarded by referee Oliver after Mehdi Benatia was judged to have felled Lucas Vazquez in the box.
Juventus players were outraged by the decision with goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon being dismissed in his final Champions League game.
Spanish website Diario Gol reports that Barcelona players feel Oliver made the right decision, though sympathise with Juventus.
In addition to that, the Spanish outlet added that the Barcelona players were impressed by Real’s never-say-die attitude.
They believe that at 3-0 down, Real Madrid could easily have caved in to pressure.
But Los Blancos kept going until the end and Ronaldo’s late goal was just about warranted.
Speaking after the game, Buffon had launched attack on Oliver for giving Real their golden chance to go through.
“It was a tenth of a penalty. 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,” he said.
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