Football Talk - Ferguson rages at 'typical Germans' - 08/04/10
Sir Alex Ferguson criticised the behaviour of Bayern Munich's players after Manchester United crashed out of the Champions League.
Ferguson claimed Bayern deliberately attempted to injure Wayne Rooney, and convinced the referee, Nicola Rizzoli, to send off Rafael da Silva for a second bookable offence.
United, who won 3-2 on the night but went out on the away goals rule after drawing 4-4 on aggregate, appeared to be cruising through to the semi-finals when they led 3-0 after 40 minutes thanks to one goal from Darron Gibson and a Nani brace. But Ivica Olic reduced the arrears just before the break and Rafael was then dismissed for a second booking early in the second half. A stunning volley from Arjen Robben saw the visitors through.
Ferguson was unhappy with the way in which the Bayern players had put pressure on the referee to show Rafael a second yellow card after pulling back Franck Ribery.
"The young boy showed a bit of inexperience, but they got him sent off, everyone sprinted towards the referee - typical Germans," he said. "They were never getting through that tie. With 11 men, we had no problem."
Asked if he felt the Germans had targeted Rooney's problematic ankle, which was supposed to sideline him for two to three weeks, Ferguson said:
"I think that's obvious. I don't think there was anything serious, but there were a couple of challenges. We expected that, and the referee should have handled it. It is hard to digest something like that. It was a top performance. In one way you could say we have thrown it away; in another you could argue we were very unlucky.''
