Real Madrid are through to the Champions League semifinal for a record 13th time, after Cristiano Ronaldo converted a late penalty in their 3-1 loss to Juventus in the quarter final second leg.
With Los Blancos leading 3-0 from the first leg, Juve took a leaf from their Serie A rivals, AS Roma, to erase that lead within an hour with a stunning performance at the Santiago Bernabeu.
The Italians were without their Argentine forward, Paulo Dybala, who was suspended for game. But in Mario Mandzukic, the found a worthy replacement as the ex-Atletico Madrid man scored two excellent first half headers to put the Old Lady 2-0 ahead at half time.
Blaise Matuidi added a third in the second, following a goalkeeping error from Keylor Navas, to put the Serie A giants 3-0 up on the night, and level on aggregate, 3-3.
However, just when they thought they had done enough to drag the game into extra time, English referee, Michael Oliver, awarded the hosts a penalty in controversial circumstances.
Second half substitute, Lucas Vazquez, found a large pocket of space in the Juve box, following a cross from the right wing, and as he was set for the kill, Mehdi Benatia hauled him down.
Left with no other option, Oliver gave Real a penalty, leading to wild protests from Juve players led by goalkeeper, Gigi Buffon, who was eventually sent of by the English official for dissent.
Obviously, no better person than Ronaldo to step up to the plate, with so much pressure, and the Portuguese made no mistakes from the spot to send Real to yet another CL semifinal appearance.
That decision by Oliver caused a lot of reactions on social media, despite replays showing Benatia clearly fouled Vazquez.
Here are some of the best, with some questioning the timing of the call.
https://twitter.com/jp17_mufcRyan/status/984174415398268929
https://twitter.com/yugach/status/984177984675434498
https://twitter.com/WalterTactic/status/984172507027705856
https://twitter.com/GeniusFootball/status/984177825275097088
https://twitter.com/zina_chicc/status/984177784326180864
https://twitter.com/Babygiwa/status/984168958046670853
But according to these accounts, Oliver isn’t ‘mad’, as they believe the Englishman was spot on with his decision.
https://twitter.com/DBiosky/status/984178940951564289
https://twitter.com/Zonal_Marking/status/984171500075876353
https://twitter.com/HydroStatiQ/status/984177779687198720
https://twitter.com/OlaTheOG/status/984172717934104576
https://twitter.com/OvieO/status/984172748791566336
And now, back to more protests, led by this guy who thinks the official is lucky he’s not Nigerian.
https://twitter.com/ClintonViceB/status/984176453536440320
https://twitter.com/brauwneyez007/status/984170683877003264
https://twitter.com/Ade_dapo__/status/984172931776503808
https://twitter.com/armchairsports_/status/984171412779945992
https://twitter.com/Omojuwa/status/984172733457227781
Oliver gets more support;
https://twitter.com/Dinnydavinci/status/984178580597899264
https://twitter.com/kennagq/status/984157534834577408
https://twitter.com/Sport_Witness/status/984173777562071040
And one last one, nah, not in support of that decision by the ref.
https://twitter.com/waxxa_official/status/984176167824576514
But what do you think about that call? Was the referee right or wrong? And why? Get in touch in the comments section, tell us what you think.
