Chelsea’s sour grapes do them no favours
“The word conspiracy is maybe the wrong one. It’s difficult when players are so high on emotion after a game. However, people are saying we shouldn’t have reacted the way we did. But the fact is, six decisions went against us in front of 40,000 people. And for the ref to not give one of them is unusual.”
John Terry tells it like it is
OK JT, if there was some sort of conspiracy by Uefa to help Barcelona get to the final at Chelsea’s expense, then answer me this: why did the referee send off a Barcelona player (wrongly, too), with half an hour still to play? The red card shown to Eric Abidal, after Nicolas Anelka tripped over his own ego, should have put paid to Barcelona’s challenge – that it didn’t is testament to Barca’s (underrated) mental toughness; they could have crumbled, easily, but they passed and passed and passed some more, and finally they got their reward.
And, as I remember, Barcelona might easily have had two penalties at the Camp Nou, for fouls on Thierry Henry and Andres Iniesta. Hell, Michael Ballack shouldn’t have even been playing last night, as he was extremely lucky not to see red in Spain last Tuesday.
As Gerard Pique said after last night’s match: “Sometimes the referee is good for you, sometimes he is not.”
He’s right. It’s a cliche, but that’s sport for you – some decisions go your way, others don’t. Get over it.
I have no doubt that Michel Platini was desperate to avoid another all-Premier League final, but if he is trying to hinder the progress of English clubs, then he’s not doing very well. Three clubs in the semis for two seasons in a row, and now five successive finals featuring Prem clubs? That’s enough for Serie A and La Liga clubs to cry foul, not the other way around.
I do have some sympathy for Chelsea, because a) it sucks to be eliminated by a last-minute away goal, and b) they -Â I mean Guus Hiddink – got their tactics spot on. Barcelona were neutralised.
But it’s almost impossible to sympathise with the likes of Drogba, Terry and Ballack. These are experienced, professional players who should know better, but instead choose to behave like utter c***s (insert letters of your choosing). I understand that in the heat of the moment it’s easy to lose control of your emotions, but to behave with such a lack of grace and respect is an ugly sight. Compare Drogba’s rant with the dignified reaction of Darren Fletcher to his sending off on Tuesday. If Uefa now hit Chelsea -Â The Drog, especially – with all sorts of punishments, they only have themselves to blame.
I’m not suprised that many people feel this result is karmic. All those negative back passes to Petr Cech, followed by long kicks (yawn), added up to something. And if Drogba hadn’t missed his one-on-one sitter…