Champions League - Managers: Fergie rates ref

Eurosport - Wed, 26 Nov 13:36:00 2008

A look at the reaction from Tuesday's round of Champions League matches with Alex Ferguson applauding the referee's decision to send off Joan Capdevila for a challenge on Cristiano Ronaldo in Manchester United's goalless draw at Villarreal.

FOOTBALL 2008-2009 Champions League - Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson - 0

Villarreal 0-0 Manchester United

Alex Ferguson: "A strong referee is always an advantage in football today. The referee was very fair and strict with both teams. The systematic fouling on him is what is happening in our game now. That is a tactic. The referee thinks he is diving all the time and the crowd are screaming. So that is the problem. He (Capdevila) may not have got that red card in England so there is a different interpretation of the physical aspect of the game in European matches. We deserved better - we improved our possession in the second half and I was satisfied. It takes us into the next stage and that's the main thing."

Manuel Pellegrini: "It was not a rough game, and you have to challenge Ronaldo. They are not going to lose to Aalborg - that's for certain. Our objective, though, is complete - and that is to qualify. However, we did notice the absence of some of our offensive players."

Arsenal 1-0 Dynamo Kiev

Arsene Wenger: "Nicklas scored a great goal. It was not handball as Kiev claimed. It is the first step for us. What the team needs is reassurance and at least we have that now. I believe his (William Gallas's) focus was great. He wanted to do well and you could see he was completely committed in the game. The crowd acknowledged that he (Cesc Fabregas) was a committed captain and I was very happy with that reaction."

Yuri Semin: "We were more or less equal with Arsenal and we played well, but the result is what counts."

AaB Aalborg 2-1 Celtic

Allan Kuhn: "What can you say after a game like that? We have had some wonderful moments at this club in recent seasons and that is right up there, although I would say our title win last season still slightly overshadows it. It's a wonderful day for the town and everyone connected to the club."

Gordon Strachan: "I just hope it's a bad dream, to come here and have so many players playing well. At 1-0 I thought, 'Tonight's the night - we're going to get this away victory'. I couldn't see any threat at all. And then a deflection and an own goal - the game's crazy."

Bayern Munich3-0 Steaua Bucharest

Juergen Klinsmann: "We're delighted. We're through to the last 16 with a game to spare, and the way we did it was fantastic. We've felt for the last six or eight weeks that we're really gaining momentum."

Fiorentina 1-2 Lyon

Cesare Prandelli: "At the beginning of the match we gave them too much space, and as a result they had a lot of opportunities. When they doubled their lead, we did not disunite, we continued to fight and work together. I cannot criticise my players. We have been eliminated from the competition, but we can hold our heads up high as we gave it our best."

Claude Puel: "It was very tough and very disciplined. It was a very high quality match. Congratulations to my players - collectively we were very good. We knew we were coming here to win and not to lose. There was no question of us playing for a draw."

Fenerbahce 1-2 Porto

Jesualdo Ferreira: "We're in a difficult group so to get nine points from five games is a big success for us. A lot of people have criticised my players and the team but what we've achieved is the perfect answer. I want to remind them that the team is still young and inexperienced in Champions League terms. I want to congratulate the players one by one. They didn't lose their motivation or control of the game at any time."

BATE Borisov 0-1 Real Madrid

Viktor Goncharenko: "I am a little disappointed with the result, although had anyone told me six months ago that I'd be disappointed with a 1-0 defeat by Real Madrid, I would probably never have trusted that man again. I did not see a major difference between the first and the second half. Madrid took one of their chances and we did not."

Bernd Schuster: "We played very effectively and kept our goal intact. We pressed our opponents a lot and the first half was especially good because we defended far up the field. We also moved the ball around really well and I can see that we are playing better with every match. There were a lot of factors against us tonight, but Juventus helped us a little and we managed to win to secure ourselves a place in the last 16."

Zenit St Petersburg 0-0 Juventus

Dick Advocaat: "Juventus took a more cautious approach while we had to take more risks because we needed the win to stay in the race to qualify for the next round. We created enough chances, but if you want to win the game, you have to score. However, at the end of 90 minutes, I can say that 0-0 is a fair score."

Claudio Ranieri: "We didn't win because of bad luck and over-eagerness. We showed we are in a positive moment. He (Claudio Marchisio) was already playing well before his injury, and he's playing well now too. I was convinced he would form a good partnership with (Mohamed) Sissoko."

Eurosport

Comment 11 - 30 of 30

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  1. A RED CARD for the nasty and viscious tackle on Ronaldo is a decision WELL DONE. Yes Ronaldo has to be challenged but by technical and sportive means. NOT BY DANGEROUS AND MALICOUS AND VIOLENT CHALLENGES.

    WELL DONE MR. ROSETTI. LECTURE YOUR COLLEAGUES AND THE OTHER REFEREES ON HOW TO PROTECT AND PROMOTE SPORTS IN FOOTBALL GAMES

    Have a look at YouTube-Ronaldo vs City-Terrible Kick from Ball..and then you can tell how Sir. Ferguson was right

    VINCE BORG - MALTA

    From vinceb, on Thu 27 Nov 11:57AM

  2. A RED CARD for the nasty and viscious tackle on Ronaldo is a decision WELL DONE. Yes Ronaldo has to be challenged but by technical and sportive means. NOT BY DANGEROUS AND MALICOUS AND VIOLENT CHALLENGES.

    WELL DONE MR. ROSETTI. LECTURE YOUR COLLEAGUES AND THE OTHER REFEREES ON HOW TO PROTECT AND PROMOTE SPORTS IN FOOTBALL GAMES

    Have a look at YouTube-Ronaldo vs City-Terrible Kick from Ball..and then you can tell how Sir. Ferguson was right

    VINCE BORG - MALTA

    From vinceb, on Thu 27 Nov 11:54AM

  3. A RED CARD for the nasty and viscious tackle on Ronaldo is a decision WELL DONE. Yes Ronaldo has to be challenged but by technical and sportive means. NOT BY DANGEROUS AND MALICOUS AND VIOLENT CHALLENGES.

    WELL DONE MR. ROSETTI. LECTURE YOUR COLLEAGUES AND THE OTHER REFEREES ON HOW TO PROTECT AND PROMOTE SPORTS IN FOOTBALL GAMES

    VINCE BORG - MALTA

    From vinceb, on Thu 27 Nov 11:51AM

  4. Father Jack ferguson, why don't you do us all a favour and retire; you are an embarrassing OLD MAN - truly odious.

    From cameron w, on Wed 26 Nov 9:25PM

  5. im a united fan and i admit ronaldo does dive and go down a bit easy the way rooney went down twice was diving and i hope fergie has a go at him for that. but yes it is true players do attack ronaldo a bit to much at times and last night was a defo red. look across the city robinho is getting a name for himself as a goal scorer for city and within a year or 2 he will be getting attacked by defenders

    From titanskyky77, on Wed 26 Nov 4:54PM

  6. if u want to be on the ball all game you are going to get tackled...if you try to make the defender look stupid, youre going to get tackled hard....fergusons mind games are just getting stupid....

    From GD, on Wed 26 Nov 2:03PM

  7. agreed, but let the ref get on with it, Ferguson's comments offer little or no respect for the referee to get on with his job. The referee made the right call and that should be the end of it, If the challenge happened on any other player it would warrant a red card, why should Ronaldo recieve special treatment

    From willd2704, on Wed 26 Nov 2:02PM

  8. His diving notwithstanding, if that tackle had forced the boy to hobble or be stretchered off, would that have satisfied you?

    From Federal C, on Wed 26 Nov 1:51PM

  9. im an mufc fan, and yeah ronaldo does dive now and again, rooney last night did 2. loads of players dive, its part of football unfortunatly. but that challenge last night in eyes was a st8 red, it was high and left studmarks on his knee.

    From madforest29, on Wed 26 Nov 1:45PM

  10. everyone knows that Ronaldo dives and he is not the only player who does, but Ferguson is starting to sound like a broken record asking for the referee to protect him, all these other great players you mention never had their boss whinging every five minutes

    From willd2704, on Wed 26 Nov 12:59PM

  11. Ronaldo is a fantastic player but he does dive. Klinsman was a great player but he dived. As did Zidane, Figo, Henry, Rivaldo, Van Nistelrooy and many other great players. Do you hold it against them to the extent you do Ronaldo? Doubt it. Yes he dives and I dont condone it but tackles like the one he recieved last night have no place in football. That was a potential career threatening injury and nobody deserves that.

    From David, on Wed 26 Nov 12:50PM

  12. suddenly the other team get a card and the referee's a hero. ferguson is a job knockey.

    From gumbo, on Wed 26 Nov 12:44PM

  13. shut up fergie. this guy is nothing but an embarressment to football

    and bath, ur not a chelsea fan your a man u fan

    From yip, on Wed 26 Nov 12:34PM

  14. This tactic of fouling Ronaldo wouldn't be the same tactic that Sir Alex instructs Ferdinand and Vidic to kick Torres up in the air whenever Man U play Liverpool would it? He can't have it both ways

    From willd2704, on Wed 26 Nov 12:28PM

  15. AS A CHELSEA FAN I THINK SIR ALEX IS THE BEST MANAGER AROUND RINOLDO A DIVER U SHUD SEE OUR STRIKER THE DROG NOW THERS A DIVER...

    From bath8193, on Wed 26 Nov 12:13PM

  16. Yes Ronaldo is a diver and doesnt get punished by the referee as often as he should but then what footballer does!! But when a player makes no attempt for the ball and goes straight at the knee it is a well deserved red card. Good refereeing, made up for all the times villarreal got a fee kick for falling over when a united player beathed on them.

    From spaced, on Wed 26 Nov 11:53AM

  17. just watch the replay and if any of you know anything about football you will see that it was a high tackle that could have broke the lads leg at the knee so it was a red card and i dont remember the player protesting it much either.and i bet hand on heart you would not say no to him in any of your teams.

    From craigwise70, on Wed 26 Nov 11:49AM

  18. If for the beauty of sport referees should punished divers, they have as well the duty to protect gifted players like ronaldo and for that I totally agree with Big Fergie... the bottom line is, and Maradona or Pele and Milla will agree with me Football is art and artists deserve protection...

    From bassaga, on Wed 26 Nov 11:36AM

  19. fergie stop now, Rolando is a diver, that tackle is not Red card, i'm sure Fergie must have watched it again but he come out and agree with us..... right Fergie?

    From ladi, on Wed 26 Nov 11:21AM

  20. Who said that Ronaldo is nothing but a diving flop when it comes to big games ? So far this year, Ronaldo played in FOUR CL games and he failed to score a single goal. His total this year is 9 goals in 14 games . Was last year a FLUKE ?

    From Tim, on Wed 26 Nov 10:54AM
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