Cristiano Ronaldo has echoed the criticism of Real Madrid boss Jose Mourinho, bemoaning Barcelona’s favourable treatment by referees.
Los Blancos suffered a 2-0 loss to their bitter La Liga rivals in their Champions League semi-final first leg at the Bernabeu, and now have a mammoth task on their hands as they look to overturn the deficit away at Camp Nou next Tuesday.
Real’s world-record signing Ronaldo supported manager Jose Mourinho’s sentiments about the reigning Spanish champions’ fortunes with refereeing decisions in crucial games.
“It’s always the same with them (Barcelona),” Ronaldo said. “This is the fourth consecutive season that something like this has happened.”
“(Jose) Mourinho is right, just look at what happened with Arsenal, Chelsea and Inter. They (Barcelona) are a fantastic team, but they also have a lot of influence, both on and off the pitch.”
The former Manchester United star’s comments followed Mourinho’s sensational post-match rant in which he accused the match officials of handing Barcelona preferential officiating.
“I don’t understand why Barcelona have this power. It happened two years ago to Chelsea (in the 2009 semi-finals), almost to my Inter last year, and also to Arsenal this year,” Mourinho said.
“Why do the opponents of Barcelona always have a man sent off? Where does this power come from? Maybe it is to give more publicity to UNICEF, maybe because of the power of (Spanish federation president Jose Angel) Villar in UEFA.”
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