Cruyff blames Collina for Barca exit
Barcelona legend Johan Cruyff believes referee Pierluigi Collina was to blame for Barcelona’s exit from the Champions League on Tuesday night.
Barca were adamant Chelsea defender Ricardo Carvalho fouled goalkeeper Victor Valdes in the process of John Terry netting the goal which carried the Premiership leaders through at Stamford Bridge.
And Cruyff agrees that Collina, widely regarded as the best referee in the world, should have whistled for the alleged infringement.
“If justice had been done then Barca would have qualified, they were unfairly knocked out above all because of a refereeing mistake for Chelsea’s last goal,” said Cruyff.
“It was an obvious foul, the linesman saw it and should have had the goal ruled out.”
Having blamed the officials, Cruyff, who led Barca to their only European Cup triumph against Sampdoria in 1992, also acknowledged defensive errors had played a part in the Catalan side’s downfall.
He added: “Barca conceded three goals too easily. When you go forward you have to be wary of the counter-attack and Barca were too square which created big problems in the defence and led to the goals.”
