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Monday Kickoff: Ronaldo rips referee; Dante signs Bayern extension; and more

CristianoRonaldoMallencoRealMadrid1-Barcelona 2014 (Getty)

By DAN KARELL

Cristiano Ronaldo was not a happy camper after his side fell to Barcelona in the latest rendition of El Clasico.

The Portuguese winger, who scored a penalty kick goal in the second half of the 4-3 Real Madrid defeat, blamed the loss on referee Undiano Mallenco, claiming that La Liga referees always make calls against Real Madrid and that Mallenco was biased against them.

“He’s making a lot of mistakes,” Ronaldo told reporters following the match. “In a match like this you have to have a referee who’s good enough for a match of this size. The referee was nervous. A lot of mistakes. It has to be someone else. He isn’t good enough.

“Since I’ve been here, Real Madrid have never benefited from refereeing. Every year it’s the same. It makes me wonder whether it’s enough to play only on the pitch.”

The Spanish Football Federation’s referees committee will convene on Tuesday and decide whether to punish Ronaldo for his comments, as well as decide the appropriate action for Sergio Ramos, who received a straight red card for denying a goal-scoring opportunity.

Here are some more stories to kick off your week:

DANTE SIGNS NEW DEAL WITH BAYERN MUNICH

Just one week after Bayern Munich locked down Arjen Robben with a new contract, the German club did the same for their defensive rock in the lineup.

Brazilian defender Dante has signed a new deal with Bayern, the club announced, with the contract extending through June 2017. The centerback joined Bayern ahead of the 2012/2013 season and has gone on to make 83 appearances in all competitions since then.

“Joining Bayern was the best decision of my life,” Dante told Bayern’s website in a statement. “Everything here is good: the club, the team, the trophies we win, the atmosphere. Bayern is the right club for me and that’s why I’m delighted to be staying in Munich until at least 2017. I’m certain this team can enjoy a lot more fun and success in the years to come.”

BUNDESLIGA CLUBS REJECT GOAL-LINE TECHNOLOGY

Goal-line technology isn’t coming to the Bundesliga any time soon.

A vote to introduce goal-line technology to the top two tiers of German soccer failed to gain a two-thirds majority at a meeting of officials of all 36 Bundesliga and 2. Bundesliga clubs on Monday morning.

German league (DFL) chairman Reinhard Reuball told the AP that half of the 18 Bundesliga teams voted in favor of goal-line technology, and that referees were in favor of the vote.

Earlier this season, Bayer Leverkusen’s Stefan Kiessling scored what’s known as the “ghost goal” in a match against Hoffenheim, when his header went through a hole in the side-netting and across the line.

Perhaps ironically, FIFA will be using German technology from the company Goal Control for goal-line technology at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

QUICK KICKS

Eric Abidal walked out on his team and didn’t attend AS Monaco’s match against Lille after being left off the gameday squad. (REPORT)

Bayern Munich have been fined €10,000 and will play their home match against Manchester United in the UEFA Champions League with a partial closure after a discriminatory banner was shown vs. Arsenal. (REPORT)

Fiorentina forward Mario Gomez is set to undergo tests on a sprained knee, just weeks after returning from a serious knee injury. (REPORT)

The Parc des Princes in Paris will undergo a face-lift to take it’s capacity up to 47,000 and VIP seats to 4,500 in time for Euro 2016. (REPORT)

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What do you think of these reports? Do you agree with Ronaldo’s comments? Think the referee’s performance was poor? What do you think of Dante’s extension?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

    • nah. a good rule of thumb is to imagine the infractions were committed elsewhere on the field. would they be fouls? in all three cases yesterday, the answer is ‘yes’. (the only one i’m not dead certain of is neymar’s, but the replay certainly indicates that ramos caught his back foot.) if so, they should be penalties.

      you can have a legitimate complaint about ronaldo’s spot, but at that speed, it’s pretty impossible for the ref to tell, so although it was incorrect, i don’t know that it’s fair to criticize the call.

      Reply
      • Neymar’s was hard to see from the replays. It looks like he was clipped. I will say this though.

        It wasn’t a red. Mostly because I can’t figure out why it would be. It’s not the “last man” rule as he still had to beat the keeper. It wasn’t a nasty foul by any means. Soooo why red? Ramos has a talent for Reds though. Good for him.

      • It’s not a “last man”, it’s denying a clear goal scoring opportunity. You can argue that Neymar’s last touch and the angle of his dribble took him out of a clear goal scoring opportunity, thus there should not have not been a red, but that’s not such a strong argument.

        I thought all 3 penalties were a little soft, but if those same fouls happened out at midfield they would most certainly have been called, and there wouldn’t have been any argument.

      • Okay, I explained that badly. I was thinking along the lines that if he beat the keeper. 2 more defenders would have been back on the goal line as they both were taking a more direct route to the goal, both were in touching distance of Neymar, and moving at a higher speed.

        Essentially, what I mean is it wasn’t a “last man” situation or a “clear goal scoring opportunity.” Whatever Clear means there…

      • Last man rule is in reference to field players. But Ramos was sent off under the DOCGSO clause, which also excludes the goalkeeper.

      • in addition to the other comments, i just want to point out that the ‘last man’ rule doesn’t even exist anymore. they’ve kept it as DOGSO, and left it up to the ref’s discretion.

    • first, Ronaldo was outside the box when (if) contact was made with Alves. Second, could not really judge whether Ramos actually clipped Neymar, but if he did it was clearly not intentional plus, as others have noted, Neymar had lost the ball and was not even close to going on goal. So if the ref felt he had to give the penalty, ’no reason for the red card to kill an otherwise great match. Iniesta’s PK, I thought, was the weakest. That was not a foul any place on the field. He had been cut off by two men and simply tried push (dive) his way between them. Awful call by the ref. The ref was definitely trigger happy.

      Reply
      • 1) definite contact from alves. agreed on the incorrect spot of the foul, but i addressed that above.
        2) doesn’t matter if ramos’ contact was intentional; it was still a trip, and therefore, still a foul. neymar only lost the ball when he was tripped.
        3) if a player is in possession of the ball, as iniesta was, you can’t move to block off his access to the ball without going for the ball yourself, and you especially can’t do it by kneeing him in the thigh.

      • 1. If you’re in charge of El Clasico, you have to get that call correct. Clearly outside of the 18-yard box.

        2. Neymar’s leg hooked Ramos’ foot, not the other way around. Surprised his reputation didn’t precede him here.

        3. This was the only penalty of the evening.

        All things being equal, Barca would’ve gone 1-0 on penalties instead of 2-1. However, the Merengues would’ve still had 11 men.

      • Cut off?

        He nutmegged Alonso who then took his legs out by running through him.

        It was a stone cold penalty.

      • BeIN covered all three decisions following the game and after numerous replays, the evidence is conclusive that both Barcelona penalties were warranted and Madrid’s was not.

        – Real Madrid Penalty #1: http://youtu.be/ku9vBsRYBZE?t=4m44s

        You and I agree that Madrid’s penalty is not one, but Alves does touch him.

        – Barcelona Penalty #1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ku9vBsRYBZE&feature=youtu.be&t=5m16s

        You’re right in saying that Ramos does not intentionally catch Neymar, but Neymar puts him in an awkward position by cutting across him and forcing him to foul him by clipping his left leg. Neymar also sells the penalty because he drags his foot along the ground creating an even better chance for contact. He feels the contact and goes down to the turf. The result: penalty.

        – Barcelona Penalty #2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ku9vBsRYBZE&feature=youtu.be&t=6m20s

        Iniesta beats Carvajal with an outside of the foot chop and then attempts to swim move with his left arm over the outside back in order to continue around him. Alonso comes in expecting Iniesta to cut it through the gap Iniesta just created (between Carvajal and Alonso), but overextends himself and exposes the gap between his feet which Iniesta then megs. It is only natural then for Iniesta to try and cut through the gap between the two player in order to get the ball that he so creatively put past them. Alonso realizes that he will have a clear path to goal, so he cuts him off. However, it’s a penalty because Iniesta has already beat Alonso off of the dribble — Alonso is not shielding the ball away from Iniesta; it’s already past him. The result: penalty.

  1. “Since I’ve been here, Real Madrid have never benefited from refereeing. Every year it’s the same. It makes me wonder whether it’s enough to play only on the pitch.”

    I… I give up. Come on man. Did Jose Mourinho actually brainwash these players?

    Reply
  2. “Since I’ve been here, Real Madrid have never benefited from refereeing. Every year it’s the same. It makes me wonder whether it’s enough to play only on the pitch.”

    ======

    I hope he’s getting the proper medication for this. I can’t even find proper words…

    Maybe he can help me come up with something while serving the suspension that is more certainly coming.

    Reply
    • That’s entitlement behavior. Ronaldo was always a show pony at United with his antics. Now, he seems to expect the refs to throw a red carpet down the pitch so he can strut down it and score.

      Don’t throw rocks in a glass house.

      Reply
      • Right.

        Don’t think we can expect players to have perfect objectivity as to where they sit in the grand scheme of things, but this is just entirely irrational and as you said, very entitled.

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