Former referees cast doubt over Vázquez penalty call
Former referees have spoken about Michael Oliver's decision to award a late penalty for Madrid at the Santiago Bernabéu with no clear verdict.
The main talking point from Wednesday's Champions League quarter-final tie at the Santiago Bernabéu centres on the penalty decision after English official Michael Oliver awarded a spot kick for Real Madrid in the 93rd minute of the tie, having adjudged that Medhi Benatia fouled Lucas Vazquez as the Galician was about to strike on goal.
Cristiano Ronaldo confidently dispatched the penalty which saw Zidane's side progress in the competition winning 4-3 on aggregate after it appeared the Italian side had done enough to take the tie to extra time. The fallout for the penalty decision is the key talking point from the night with former match officials casting their opinion on the pivotal decision.
Resident AS and Carrusel Deportivo referee Eduardo Iturralde González was the most vocal in claiming that the spot kick should have not been awarded for Real Madrid, deeming that the push from Benatia was not forceful enough for the English official to award the spot kick.
COPE Radio's in house referring analyst Pedro Martín was also of the inclination that it was not a penalty kick, but was slightly more ambiguous in his vision of the decision: "I wouldn't have whistled in that situation but at the same time I can see why the penalty was awarded" claimed the former match official on the Tiempo de Juego sports programme.
Onda Cero's former professional referee García de Loza also felt that the decision at the Bernabéu was incorrect:."I don't feel it's a penalty and have my doubts about the push".
English officials
There was more support for the decision from former Premier League match officials with ex-Premier League man in black Mark Halsey applauding Michael Oliver for having the bravery to make such an important decision and award Real Madrid a penalty kick at the end of the game. "I feel he acted correctly" stated the ex-match official.
His view was echoed by Graham Poll who also deemed that Oliver made the correct call in both awarding the penalty and a straight red card for Gigi Buffon for his protests against the decision.
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