The former Manchester United and England defender Gary Neville has said that he is extremely shocked by the decision of the referee to send off Nani in the last 16 Champions league match against Real Madrid. United were coming into the match on the back of the 1-1 draw in the first leg, which would have been enough to see them through to the quarter-finals even with a draw.
Things looked extremely bright for the Red Devils in the first half after they led the match through an own goal from Sergio Ramos. Madrid looked devoid of ideas in the first half, but they were given a lifeline when the Portuguese winger Nani was given a straight red card by the referee.
This changed the whole complexion of the match, as Madrid managed to score two goals in the space of 2 min to knock Manchester United out of the competition. Gary Neville, who is currently working as a TV pundit, has said that his left shell-shocked by the decision of the referee to give the player a straight red card. Nani was adjudged to have fouled the Madrid defender Alvaro Arbeloa with a high foot. Neville has said that Madrid also should have had a player sent off following the goalkeeper Diego Lopez’s challenge on Nemanja Vidic.
“Been going to OT since age of 5 and I’ve never seen the whole ground as in disbelief as they were last night at a decision! Nani is a player who regularly tries to control a pass like this over his shoulder and its never a red card! Changed the whole game!Poor ref. The crowd actually weren’t angry / weren’t shouting they were just open mouthed and in shock! The Madrid keeper on Vidic looked a similar type of incident,” said the former England right back.