Juventus defender Medhi Benatia was left ‘disgusted’ with the decision to award Real Madrid a penalty in the dying seconds of their Champions League quarter-final second leg on Wednesday night.
Benatia and his Juventus teammates looked to have pulled off a remarkable comeback at the Bernabeu after racing into a 3-0 lead to level the tie over the two legs.
Two goals from Mario Mandzukic and a third by Blaise Matuidi silenced the Real supporters, before referee Michael Oliver pointed to the spot in the third minute of stoppage time as Lucas Vazquez went down in the box under the challenge of Benatia.
Medhi Benatia pleads with referee Michael Oliver after Real Madrid are awarded a penalty
‘I’ve seen it in the match, I’ve seen it on the TV, you can’t whistle for a foul on this kind of action,’ Benatia fumed to BeIn Sports France.
‘When you put in that much effort, against a great team like this, you can’t have a referee whistling for a penalty like that in the 93rd-minute, because honestly this is a game which should have ended in extra-time.’
The situation escalated to such heights that captain Gianluigi Buffon was sent off for his aggressive protests in what could be his last Champions League match.
Cristiano Ronaldo stepped up to smash the ball past substitute Wojciech Szczesny and send Real into the semi-finals and keep their hopes of a third successive European crown alive.
A penalty was awarded after Benatia brought down Lucas Vazquez inside the six-yard box
Gianluigi Buffon is awarded a red card by Oliver for complaining at the stoppage-time penalty
Benatia, among the Juventus players and staff, was less than impressed though and went on to express his fury at the game of football in general.
‘I’m proud of my team, but I’m more and more disgusted by the world of football,’ he explained.
‘What I say might seem harsh, but when you make an effort like that you can’t afford to have the referee give a penalty kick in the 93rd minute and crush the hopes of the people. There’s some work behind all that.
‘If I’d made a clear foul I’d have said it honestly: “I touched him, but otherwise he’d have scored into an empty goal”. But that’s not the case!
‘I did everything I could not to touch him, but at the end of the day football is still a contact sport. So it’s possible my right thigh touched him, but I didn’t shove him or anything.
‘There it is, it’s bad, it’s bad. We’re disgusted, but that’s life, that’s football.’
Benatia claimed he is ‘disgusted with the world of football’ following their European exit