Chelsea manager Guus Hiddink admitted he could understand why his players had cried “conspiracy” after a string of controversial refereeing decisions denied Chelsea a place in the Champions League final.
Andres Iniesta’s stoppage-time equalizer earned Barcelona a 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday evening and sent the Catalans into a final meeting with Manchester United on the away goals rule.
Hiddink admitted his side, who had performed with superb discipline in the goalless first leg and gone ahead in the tie through a stunning Michael Essien strike, had contributed to their own downfall by failing to take the chances they had to kill the match.
PHOTO: AP
But that did not stop him from branding the performance of Norwegian official Tom Henning Ovrebo — who turned down a string of strong penalty appeals by Chelsea — as the worst he had seen in his long coaching career.
“Of course, players make many mistakes, coaches make many mistakes and referees can make mistakes,” Hiddink said. “Okay, so it happens. It’s all in the game. But when you see two, three or four situations waved away, then, yes, it is the worst I have seen.”
The Dutchman acknowledged Chelsea should have capitalized on the extent to which they dominated Wednesday’s match, with Iniesta’s late, late strike the first shot the visitors had got on target all night.
PHOTO: AP
“It is quite a disappointment that we did not finish it,” Hiddink said. “We can be critical of that. But it was the overall feeling of being robbed, of an injustice. That it why it was so hot and angry in the dressing room. I could fully understand the feeling of the players.”
Chelsea might have had as many as four penalties and some of the players were quick to link the referee’s performance to a belief that UEFA did not want another all-English final in the wake of last year’s dull stalemate between the Londoners and Manchester United.
Hiddink, however, distanced himself from such theories.
“Conspiracy is a very tough word and, if there is, you have to prove it,” he said.
Barcelona coach Josep Guardiola acknowledged Chelsea may have had grounds for complaint but said the Londoners also contributed to their own downfall by attempting to sit on their lead.
“I can understand that Chelsea can be disappointed about the performance of the referee,” Guardiola said. “I did not see the penalties they say there were but it is possible that there were. You have to give us credit though. We tried to win the game, we tried to take the ball and create chances. We did not create so much but I expected Chelsea to create a little bit more pressure.”
Barcelona looked dead and buried when Eric Abidal was sent off (another mistake by the referee) with almost 25 minutes left, but Guardiola never lost faith.
“We kept going and we were persistent to the end,” he said. “Don’t forget we played 25 minutes [with] 10 against 11 and Chelsea stayed back. It was difficult enough 11 against 11 so we are so happy to have scored.”
Despite Guardiola’s positive spin, Barca did little in either leg of the semi-final to suggest they are capable of preventing Manchester United from becoming the first side to retain the European Cup since the introduction of the Champions League format.
Chelsea thoroughly deserved the lead they established with a goal that breathtakingly demonstrated that the Catalans do not enjoy a monopoly on technical excellence.
Frank Lampard’s attempted chip was deflected by Yaya Toure into Essien’s path and, from just beyond the arc on the edge of the penalty area, the Ghanaian midfielder unleashed a left-foot volley that rattled into the net off the underside of the bar.
Barcelona, in contrast, failed to muster a shot on target until Iniesta’s late strike and Chelsea might have won at a canter with a different official.
Daniel Alves was fortunate not to concede a first-half penalty in a wrestling match with Florent Malouda that started outside but continued into the area.
Abidal’s tug on Didier Drogba’s shirt might have earned a spot-kick soon afterwards and handballs by Gerard Pique and Samuel Eto’o also went unpunished after the break.
But it was also true that Drogba twice failed to find the net when he had only Victor Valdes to beat and Hiddink acknowledged that Chelsea had to look at themselves with the same scrutiny they applied to the referee.
“Outside of the penalties we had two or three chances in open play which we should have taken,” Hiddink said. “Then we would not have had all this fuss about the penalties.”
BUMRAH WATCH: Captain Jasprit Bumrah left the SCG for scans for back spasms and although he returned to the ground, there was no word on if he would play Rishabh Pant’s blistering counterattack yesterday capped a chaotic second day of the fifth and final Test between Australia and India, with 15 wickets falling and the star bowler of the series leaving the Sydney Cricket Ground with an ambulance escort. Yet the Border-Gavaskar trophy still remains very much in the balance as India reached 141-6, holding a 145-run lead over Australia with three days remaining. “Low-scoring games like this, it just heightens the pressure within it, so long way still to go,” Australia coach Andrew McDonald said. “There’s gonna be plenty of cricket, so we’ll see what happens.” Australia were bowled out for
Elena Rybakina’s Kazakhstan yesterday dumped defending champions Germany out of the United Cup with world No. 2 Alexander Zverev sidelined by an arm injury barely a week away from the Australian Open. The upset in Perth sent the Kazakhs into the semi-finals of the 18-nation tournament. In Sydney, women’s world No. 2 Iga Swiatek led Poland into the last eight by winning a rematch of her 2023 French Open final against Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic. Britain also progressed to the quarter-finals with Katie Boulter’s dominant 6-2, 6-1 victory over Australia’s Olivia Gadecki enough to guarantee they won their group. The US and
HAT-TRICK PREP: World No. 1 Sabalenka clinched her first win of the season, as she aims to become the first woman in 20 years to win three Australian Opens in succession Coco Gauff, Jasmine Paolini and Taylor Fritz yesterday all clocked impressive wins as tennis powerhouses Italy and the US surged into the quarter-finals of the mixed-team United Cup. World No. 3 Gauff swept past Croatia’s Donna Vekic 6-4, 6-2 to avenge a loss at the Paris Olympics, while Fritz took care of Borna Coric 6-3, 6-2 in searing Perth heat. That was enough to put the Americans — last year’s winners — into a last-eight clash with China today, while Elena Rybakina’s Kazakhstan today are to meet defending champions Germany, led by Alexander Zverev, in the other Perth quarter-final. In Sydney, the in-form
Five-time Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek yesterday beat Elena Rybakina in straight sets to take Poland into the final of the mixed-teams United Cup with victory over Kazakhstan. Last year’s runners-up face the US today for the title in Sydney after they beat the Czech Republic in the other semi-final. “This win makes me really proud,” Swiatek said after seeing off Rybakina 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 to give Poland an unassailable 2-0 lead in the tie. It was a statement of intent from the world number two with the first major of the year to start on Jan. 12. “It is perfect preparation for the
RSS