Michael Oliver, the referee who took a stand and freed Narnia from the evil grasp of Sauron, returned to Premier League duty on Monday in a 1-1 draw between West Ham United and Stoke City. Okay, fine, Oliver didn’t fight any orcs or free Narnia, but the man did end Gianluigi Buffon’s dreams of winning the Champions league.
Roma, Juventus
Oh, Michael Oliver.
Mikey, Mikey, Michael.
Michael Oliver, with a rubbish bin for a heart.
Michael Oliver, with his Citroen Saxo haircut.
Michael Oliver, with the face of an AirFix fanatic, all glue-eyed intricacy and camo paint fumes.
Michael Oliver, with his absolutely correct refereeing decision in the biggest moment of the footballing season so far.
Michael Oliver, with the target over his head. The bullets are in the post already, Mike.
So it’s Real Madrid vs. Bayern Munich and Liverpool vs. AS Roma in the Champions League draw for the semifinals on Friday. What immediately jump out are all the storylines and relationships between the two sets of semifinalists. But there’s more to this matchup than player links.
Sure, Bayern’s James Rodriguez is on loan from Real Madrid and Toni Kroos once plied his trade for the Bavarians. And yes, Salah transferred to Liverpool from Roma last summer.
Clearly Gianluigi Buffon is not the biggest fan of Michael Oliver right now. The English referee sent the Italian goalkeeper off at the end of extra time during the Juventus-Real Madrid Champions League match Wednesday, after Buffon vehemently disagreed with a penalty Oliver gave. Juventus were eliminated after Cristiano Ronaldo converted the penalty.
Here's what Buffon said after the match:
Four minutes and 32 seconds elapsed from the time referee Michael Oliver pointed to the spot to the moment the ball struck the back of the net from the force of another epic Cristiano Ronaldo penalty kick.
Liverpool and AS Roma have made this the most exciting Champions League in recent years (at least as far as the semifinals are concerned). Here's why a Liverpool versus AS Roma UCL final would be the best thing that could possibly happen to us.
There's a good reason powerhouses Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Juventus always feature in the most definitive rounds of Europe's most important competition, and yet, even though these teams never cease to amaze us, there's something refreshing and exciting about teams like Liverpool and Roma making it so far.
If we’ve just witnessed Gianluigi Buffon’s final UEFA Champions League game, it was somewhat fitting given the plethora of fresh hells this competition has provided him with over the years. For half an hour, it looked like the footballing gods were finally smiling upon Italy’s favorite son — Juventus had miraculously turned around a three-goal deficit at the Bernabeu, and Buffon had recorded five vital saves to make it happen.
We interrupt this year’s Champions League to inform you that this year’s competition has been canceled. In lieu of a tournament to determine the best team in Europe, UEFA has installed a series of challenges to show how amazing Cristiano Ronaldo is. Forget Real Madrid vs Juventus, Roma vs. Barcelona or Liverpool vs. Manchester City, all we really need is CR7.
Ronaldo haters, turn away now.