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Benfica president says refereeing against Chelsea was 'scandalous'

 

Mark Bryans
Thursday 05 April 2012 11:56 BST
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Damir Skomina shows the red card
Damir Skomina shows the red card

Benfica president Luis Felipe Vieira has lambasted the "scandalous" refereeing in both Champions League quarter-final ties against Chelsea and is looking to protest.

Chelsea won 2-1 at Stamford Bridge last night following a 1-0 victory in Portugal last week but Vieira was unhappy with key decisions and will talk to the Portuguese federation (FPF) to see if they can offer assistance in the matter.

The president also claimed no one wanted to see Benfica reach the semi-finals of Europe's elite cup competition.

In quotes reported by espn Soccernet, he said: "We can't understand how a Slovenian referee (Damir Skomina) was in charge of this match and we will explain our position to the Portuguese federation.

"I don't know whether the federation is capable of doing anything. Surely everyone saw what happened here. It is evident that this is a business and that there was no desire to see Benfica go through. Refereeing has reached a scandalous point."

Uruguay international Maxi Pereira was dismissed by Skomina in the 40th minute for a second yellow card and Benfica boss Jorge Jesus was equally unhappy with the performance of the officials.

He said: "We were penalised by the referee, unfortunately, and unjustly I feel, but that's football in the end. We come away as losers but I feel my team gave everything and I am very proud of my players tonight."

Jesus did hail the performance of his team who, despite their one-man disadvantage, came to within a goal of progressing after a later Javi Garcia effort only to fall 3-1 behind on aggregate following a Raul Meireles goal for the Blues in the final seconds.

"We've been the better team in both legs - in Lisbon and in London," he said.

"I am very proud of my men. We played with 10 men for the best part of an hour and we were still the better team. We made Chelsea look ordinary."

The 57-year-old former Braga manager was less complimentary about Chelsea and does not expect them to win their maiden Champions League title in Munich.

He said: "Over the two games we proved we were much the better team. What hurts me is that we've knocked out better teams than this Chelsea. I may be wrong, but I believe Chelsea have no chance against Barcelona."

PA

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