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Sir Alex Ferguson claims that after the Champions League round of 16 match, Madrid's "Real" apologized for the red card shown by the referee.
Man Utd lost the match at home 1-2, but blame for the failure was attributed to the referee Cuneyt Cakir, who sent off Nani in the second half for a rough foul.
"Several players really apologized," the Scot said. "And Cristiano Ronaldo was great. After the match, he came into our dressing room, sat with the players, and said that 'Man Utd' was unlucky. I don't think Alvaro Arbeloa, against whom the foul was committed, suffered much, as he didn't lie on the grass for long. Apparently, the referee's decision was mostly influenced by Sergio Ramos."
He continued: "Nani is disappointed and probably feels guilty, but I don't think he did anything wrong. It's hard to maintain belief when you see things like this happen. It's the third time we've been eliminated from the tournament because of referee decisions."
Ferguson was referring to the 2003-2004 season, when in the round of 16 against "Porto," the referee disallowed Paulo Scholes' goal, even though the Englishman was not offside. Moreover, a foul against a "Man Utd" player was not recorded, and the subsequent "Porto" attack ended in a decisive goal.
"Another episode was Rafael against Munich's 'Bayern,' around 2010," the manager recalled how referee Nicola Rizzoli cautioned and sent off England's defender for two dubious fouls.
