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Drama ... Nani shown the red card by referee Cuneyt Cakir. Source: Andrew Yates / AFP
There's nothing like a sending off in a big game to bring out the old football cliches: "That was a yellow at most, but never a red", "how can you send him off for that", "the ref's killed this game".
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Observers generally basing their opinion on the first one or two replays they see, or indeed based on which team they are supporting in the match in question.
Should Nani have been sent-off v Real Madrid?
In the Manchester United versus Real Madrid UEFA Champions League clash at Old Trafford, the home team had worked their way in front (1-0 on the night, 2-1 on aggregate). Sir Alex Ferguson was winning his tactical battle against Jose Mourinho in their round of 16 tie, but then one moment changed the momentum of the tie forever.
But was the referee, as the majority 'screamed', wrong to send Nani off?
What happened with 55 minutes on the clock was: Manchester United left-back Patrice Evra cleared the ball up-field, just clear of his teammate Nani, who instantly looked over his shoulder to see where his nearest opponent was.
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Yes, he did look over his shoulder and saw Alvaro Arbeloa coming his way, and this is one of the most important facts to digest, because the replays which most people are basing their opinion on, DO NOT show that Nani had indeed established that company was coming.
So in the knowledge Nani only has one opponent to beat, in a bid to spark a potential goal-scoring counter-attack, he jumps into the air with his right-boot outstretched in an attempt to bring the ball under control. But there's a problem – surely a player with 20 years of football experience senses that he is about to enter a 50-50 contest.
Here's where the point of contention comes. Nani does watch the ball for almsot its entire journey in flight, but at the last instant he realises he has lost this contest. He knows Arbeloa is going to control the ball with his chest. Now, we are talking about split-second moments, but this is what elite footballers deal with in every game.
Nani has a choice to make: "do I (a) pull out of the contest, or (b) do I follow through with my raised boot into my opponent's ribs and make him earn it?" Sadly, the Portuguese flyer chose the latter, and even thrusted his foot with a second motion after contact. The referee, who had a great view of the incident, read the situation brilliantly.
How can you make such an assumption I hear you ask? Well, why does Nani, whose only point of contact in the entire collision was the bottom of his foot, then roll around on the ground feeling his head and chest area? It is a smother, to suggest both players came off equally worse after a 50-50 challenge.
So is it a red card offence or a yellow card?
Well, as the rulebook now states, a send-off should occur if: "any player lunges at an opponent in challenging for the ball from the front, from the side or from behind using one or both legs, with excessive force and endangering the safety of an opponent."
Can anyone doubt that Nani "endangered the safety" of Arbeloa? The answer has to be no, and that was not just the referee's view, but also the view of former Manchester United captain Roy Keane, who was at Old Trafford as a pundit for UK television.
Keane said: "The ref made the right call. United fans can argue all day – it is dangerous play. Whether he meant it or not doesn't matter."
Sure, it changed the game, with Real Madrid going on to score twice and advance to the quarter-finals 3-2 on aggregate, and few would have complained if the Turkish referee Cuneyt Cakir had shown Nani just a yellow card.
But referees are trained to give red cards when they see a red card offence, no matter what the occasion, and unlike Howard Webb's refusal to send Nigel De Jong off in the 2010 World Cup final, Mr Cakir saw a red card offence and he punished in kind.
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