Barcelona vs. Arsenal [R] Champions League Final 5/17/06

[dysko]

refs self assesment

This official and UEFA officials all put this in very good light. I couldn't agree more with the officials self assesment. He wasn't technically wrong, but made a poor judgement call given the situation.

(And because it seems to be the cool thing to do, I am also going to let everyone know that I am not a supporter of either team... look Czar you started a trend!)

[Dadof3]

Originally Posted by Aero

It looks like even the ref agrees with me and it was a bad call sending Lehmann off.

Hmmm, what he said was, he should have waited a little bit to see if the advantage would play out. If the advantage did not, he still gives him the red card. If he allows the goal, he gives him the yellow for an intentional foul which turns out to have NOT stopped a goal scoring opportunity.

Amazing that it is all the ref's fault when he makes the call he is mandated by the laws of the game to make.

[Aero]

Originally Posted by AreliusIV

"But Hauge is adamant that his decision to send off Lehmann wasn't entirely wrong either."

No, it wasn't entirely wrong. It was just mostly wrong. It was "technically" correct. But sometimes the technically correct call isn't the most right call to make. The ref blew it. Even he admits it. When a ref comes out and says a decision "wasn't entirely wrong" that's the same thing as saying he blew it without coming right out and saying he blew it.

[Aero]

Originally Posted by Dadof3

Hmmm, what he said was, he should have waited a little bit to see if the advantage would play out.

Isn't that what every ref is taught? Shouldn't someone reffing the most important non-World Cup game of the year do that? He blew the call.

Originally Posted by Dadof3

Amazing that it is all the ref's fault when he makes the call he is mandated by the laws of the game to make.

I didn't say it was all the ref's fault. But no one can argue that his decision to send Lehmann off didn't have a profound impact on the outcome of the game. Arsenal may very well have lost even with 11 players, but that's something I very much would have liked to have seen.

I can't believe that in the 50 years they have been playing this game, that was the worst foul ever committed. Yet obviously it was. It was the first red card ever given. There hasn't even been someone sent off for two yellow card worthy fouls before. I have a hard time believing that was the foul that should result in the first ever send off when I've seen more times than I can count a goalkeeper take a forward down, get up, dust himself off, and then stand in goal ready to try and stop the ensuing penalty kick. Why wasn't the ref mandated by the laws of the game to show those other goalkeepers red cards? Because despite what the laws of the game say, there are also many unwritten laws that encompass the spirit of the law that often take precedence over the letter of the law. I would imagine that anyone involved in soccer for any amount of time would be familiar with this.

The ref is there for the good of the game. That's his ultimate responsibility. It isn't to follow any mandates at all. That's why in soccer more so than any other sport, the ref has so much leeway and so much is left up to his judgement. I can hardly imagine that it was good for the game to have the first send off ever under those circumstances. Imagine what the game would have been like if both teams had been full-strength the entire time. That would have been a match to behold. But instead here we are a day later arguing about something that shouldn't even be noticed in a game as big as this one, the referee that made bad call after bad call after bad call. The players should decide the outcome, not the ref.

[AreliusIV]

The funny thing is that with his sending off after just 18 minutes, Jens Lehmann still hasn't conceded a goal in Big Cup.

[Aero]

Originally Posted by AreliusIV

The funny thing is that with his sending off after just 18 minutes, Jens Lehmann still hasn't conceded a goal in Big Cup.

Maybe that's why he got sent off. He wanted to maintain his perfect record. 😁

[bordelais7]

This has been hashed to death already, but the referee is NOT there simply for "the good of the game"...he IS there to enforce the rules. JL staying in the game WOULD have made for a more beautiful game, yes. But how on earth would that have been fair to Barcelona?

I can't believe that in the 50 years they have been playing this game, that was the worst foul ever committed.

How many other times in the history of CL finals has a GK taken down an obvious goal scoring opportunity while also being the last defender? There may be some, but I'm just curious. It certainly wasn't the most *violent* foul in the history of the Final, but it was certainly red-card worthy. Just as you say you've seen "time after time" that this has happened and resulted in no card or simply a yellow, I've seen "time after time" where keepers have been shown the red. To the point where as soon as I saw that play happen, there was no doubt in my mind that it should be a red card.

And I really don't see how Arsenal fans can complain. If the official would have called the entire play correctly, it would have been 1-0 FCB.

[Aero]

Originally Posted by bordelais7

If the official would have called the entire play correctly, it would have been 1-0 FCB.

Yes, if the official had called it correctly it would have been 1-0. The point is that he didn't get that call right as you so aptly pointed out. I don't think that there is a person on the planet, even if they agree with the red card, that believe he got the call right. He sucked. And I'm talking MLS ref level sucking.

The correct call would have been allow the advantage and give Lehmann a yellow card. I'd much rather be a goal down than a man down. At least it is possible to score an equalizer. It's impossible to replace someone shown a red card.

And did you see the yellow card given the Henry? Worst yellow I've seen in a long, long time. (Well, not counting MLS games that is.)

You would think that they would have had a better ref for the most important club game of the year. He's not even reffing in the World Cup. Where'd they get this clown? I expect to see him reffing in RES sometime soon making more bad calls there after yesterday though.

[fuegote]

He's also the same cat that threw the questionable red at Del Horno during the Chelsea/FCB match up in England.

[rabble-rabble]

Originally Posted by Aero

The correct call would have been allow the advantage and give Lehmann a yellow card.

You would think that they would have had a better ref for the most important club game of the year. He's not even reffing in the World Cup.

I agree with others that he should have played the advantage, and then shown the yellow after the goal was scored. Instead he managed to anger both teams, Barcelona for taking away a sure goal, and Arsenal, for the unfair sending off.

What concerns me though is will we see better officiating at the World Cup tourney next month. There were some very bad decisions made in 2002, including the phantom 'foul' which denied the US the early tying goal against Poland, a very obvious hand ball not called in the box on the US against Mexico, the hand ball not called against Germany right on the goal line, the golden goal Spain scored against South Korea called off when a ball right in the middle of the end line was called out of bounds, and many others. Hopefully we will see much better officiating this time around.