Alonso, Karanka slam refereeing

Real Madrid midfielder Xabi Alonso has spoken of his disappointment with referee Frank De Bleeckere after the club exited the Champions League.

Barcelona completed a 3-1 aggregate semi-final win over their Spanish rivals, but not without controversy as Gonzalo Higuain had a goal disallowed early in the second half with the score still at 0-0.

Cristiano Ronaldo released a through ball to Higuain, who found the back of the net accordingly.

But the Real Madrid captain had been edged off balance by Gerard Pique as he released the pass and clattered into the feet of Javier Mascherano.

The strike would have put Madrid within one goal of forcing extra time at Camp Nou, and De Bleeckere’s decision to blow for a foul against Ronaldo infuriated Alonso.

“We had a really bad result and today when we scored the first goal through Higuain it would have been totally different,” Alonso said.

“It would have changed everything. Our position would have been much stronger and denying that goal after scoring, it was much more difficult and we are really disappointed with that.”

“We feel that so many bad decisions have been taken against us and we are not happy with that.”

“It has been a big difference and most of the time against us.”

Alonso also pointed to a controversial refereeing decision in last Wednesday’s first leg – the sending off of Pepe with the scores at 0-0 – claiming Real would have advanced to the final had the centre-back been allowed to continue on the pitch at the Bernabeu.

“Until the sending off we were doing really – well, not having a lot of chances, but the game looked as though it would have finished 0-0,” Alonso said.

“With that 0-0 we would have gone through with (Tuesday’s second-leg) performance and result. We feel we have done a good job but some decisions went against us.”

“We really feel that way because the way we were playing we were controlling most of the game. That result was key for us.”

Real assistant coach Aitor Karanka – standing in for suspended manager Jose Mourinho – also pointed the finger at the referee for the aggregate loss, alluding that the worldwide audience would decide if the decision to penalise Ronaldo was a wrong one.

“I think that after all that has been said this week, everyone saw what we had been going on about today (Higuain’s goal),” Karanka said.

“There is no need to say any more than that, millions of people saw it.”