UEFA referee designator Pierluigi Collina insists Real Madrid’s penalty against Juventus was “correctly given” by Michael Oliver.
The Bianconeri were incensed when the English official pointed to the spot in the last minute of their Champions League quarter-final second leg, with the tie poised at 3-3 on aggregate.
Gianluigi Buffon was sent off, and later claimed the referee didn’t have the experience to cope with a game of that magnitude.
“It was a penalty correctly given,” Collina told the Daily Telegraph.
UEFA referee designator Pierluigi Collina insists Real Madrid’s penalty against Juventus was “correctly given” by Michael Oliver.
The Bianconeri were incensed when the English official pointed to the spot in the last minute of their Champions League quarter-final second leg, with the tie poised at 3-3 on aggregate.
Gianluigi Buffon was sent off, and later claimed the referee didn’t have the experience to cope with a game of that magnitude.
“It was a penalty correctly given,” Collina told the Daily Telegraph.
“It’s an interpretation of the incident. The referee saw what happened, he made an assessment and made a decision.
“I can only say one thing: the referee for that match had 199 Premier League matches at that point. I refereed 240 matches in Serie A.
“We had some referees who retired in the last years, referees who were involved in top matches. Carlos Velasco [Spain], Mark Clattenburg [England], Nicola Rizzoli [Italy], Martin Atkinson [England].
“Losing these referees means we need a new generation of referees. We can’t trade like clubs do with players and bring them in from Asia and South America. We need to work with the ‘academy’.
“We need to build up new referees and offer them experiences. Building up a reputation and a name, it’s a matter of how you are known.
“When there is change it can happen that a season is not so successful.”