My OPINION ON TUESDAY'S UCL FIXTURE BETWEEN MANCHESTER UNITED AND REAL MADRID

I decided not to blog about Tuesday's match because I kind of figured lots of bloggers would do so. Honestly, I didn't because I was depressed at what I saw as an attempt by the referee Cuneyt Cakir to truncate Manchester United's attempt to advance to the next stage of the UEFA Champions League. In case you haven't realised, I am a die-hard Manchester United fan and while what I am about to write may pass off as the unobjective perspective of a disgruntled fan, I must point out that I am not a sports reporter. Thus, I am free of any encumbrance that checkmates any emotional outburst that applies to sports reporters.
That being said, I would like to commend the tactical effort of Sir Alex Ferguson and the business-like attitude with which the United squad approached the game. Read Madrid coach Jose Mourinho was right when he said the world would be focused on the highly anticipated encounter between two of the most successful football clubs in world history. United went into the game with the awareness that their work which began at the Bernabeu was only half done courtesy a goal from Danny Welbeck.
Sir Alex Ferguson's line up came as a shocker as he left out Shinji Kagawa and Wayne Rooney out on the bench after an awe inspiring performance at the Premier League match against Norwich City where Kagawa became the first Asian player to score a hat trick in the League. However, the line up proved to be tactically effective as they matched the star-studded Madrid side blow for blow despite conceding possession which was expected considering the pedigree of the Madrid side.
Considering how the game went in the first half, it looked like master tactician Jose Mourinho had no reply to the game plan of Sir Alex Ferguson which was to soak up pressure and catch Madrid unawares on the break. For that reason, Sir Alex paraded a speed laden attack force that comprised of Nani, Danny Welbeck and veteran Ryan Giggs with Robin Van Persie upfront. This yielded result with United getting a goal at the early minutes of the second half. At that point, the odds favoured United to go through having bagged an away goal the Bernabeu.
As it is with football, an erroneous decision was all it took to turn the tide. Nani was sent off for a seemingly innocuous challenge on Alvaro Arbeloa. I was stunned at the harsh decision of Turkish referee Cuneyt Cakir to deliver a straight red rather than a yellow for what was an attempt by Nani to control a long pass in which Arbeloa carelessly barged into and got a kick in the process.
I understand that the rules state that any form of dangerous challenge which occasions harm on the opposing player merits a red. What I don't understand is how Nani got a red when he merely attempted to control a loose ball. It wasn't a challenge and it could be fairly assumed that he had no idea that Arbeloa would barge in on him the way he did. Unfortunately, Cuneyt Cakir didn't possess the much needed sensibility to understand that a yellow card would have sufficed.
Things spiraled out of control for United from there when Mourinho took advantage of the gaping hole and brought in Luka Modric whose brilliant goal pretty much sealed the deal for Madrid as it became apparent that United couldn't keep up with 10 against Madrid's rampaging 11. The United side, despite being a man down, put up a spirited display but it was the ex-United player Cristiano Ronaldo who put the nail on United's coffin with his brilliant finish from the wonderful interplay between Mezut Ozil and Gonzalo Higuain.
While, I won't attempt to take anything out of the sound tactical changes Mourinho made, I maintain that the turkish referee totally ruined the dynamics of the game. It would appear that the 36 year old referee who is an insurance agent is quite fond of waving cards after it was found that he hasn't refereed a single game without booking players this year. Last saturday, Cakir showed showed six yellow cards in a game between Akhisar Beledi and Elazigspor in Turkey. Similarly, a week earlier, he booked five players and sent one off in Gaziantepspor's win over Bursaspor. A Turkish journalist confirmed that he has been the source of controversy with his incessant card waving in the Turkish domestic league and as a result, he had been denied refereeing high profile matches in recent times. Apparently, 3 days to the highly anticipated fixture between United and Madrid, he was the darling of the sports news headlines as he failed to award a clear penalty in Akhisar's 1-0 defeat to Elazigspor. Also, it was discovered that the referee is big fan of Madrid star player, Cristiano Ronaldo whom he follows on twitter.
Ex-United captain Roy Keane took the opportunity to shoot himself back to prominence after a long spell in oblivion after a failed attempt at coaching by coming out to support the controversial decision. I personally decided to pay no mind to the rants of the ex-United captain who apparently is still bitter over the acrimony that led to his departure from the team.
After all said and done, what's done is done and I will not say Real Madrid didn't deserve the win even though Jose Mourinho attempted to play down the controversy surrounding the Nani red card by his statement that the better team lost. Mourinho's reaction after the red card was nothing short of brilliant and contributed immensely to United's crash out of the UCL. Also, Cristiano Ronaldo refused to celebrate after scoring the winner - kudos to him for that especially as he is well aware that he is still highly respected by United fans world over.
I hope I have satisfied some friends who accused me of not blogging about the game due to United's loss. Contrary to popular belief, I took the loss with all equanimity as one of those things that make football the greatest sport in the world. Nze, take note. ;)
Malcolm O. Ifi.
Photo Credits: The Internet