Ancelotti blames poor refereeing for Champions League defeat

Bayern Munich manager Carlo Ancelotti has come down heavily on the standard of refereeing in the Champions League quaretr-final second leg against Real Madrid, saying such poor standards of officiating should never happen at this level.

"We had thought of everything going into this game -- except the referee," Ancelotti was quoted as saying by the BBC on Wednesday.

"You can't decide a semi-final spot like this. It shouldn't happen at this level."

Real Madrid won Tuesday night's match 4-2 thanks to a hattrick from star forward Cristiano Ronaldo for a 6-3 aggregate win over the two legs.

The match saw a lot of controversy with questions over the second and third goals by Ronaldo which appeared to have been scored from off-side positions.

Bayern and Chile midfielder Arturo Vidal was also given his marching orders in the second half for two bookable offences -- the second one was quite clearly a clean tackle on Real's Marco Asensio.

"The referee probably wasn't up to the task," Ancelotti said.

"I don't think Real Madrid have any influence on referees. The officials simply got it wrong. I had never been in favour of video technology, but I must admit it's necessary now."

The 57-year-old Italian also praised his players' performance, asserting that Bayern were on track until the red card to Vidal.

"We turned in a really good display, I'm proud of my players, who played with commitment and gave it everything. We came very close to the semi-finals. Some decisions by the referee ultimately decided the match," Ancelotti told the Bayern Munich website.

"I know it can happen in football, but not so often at this level. We were in control until the red card."

--IANS

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