Cheats Inter Giving Barcelona Perfect Reminder of 2009 Ovrebo Episode?

Cheats Inter giving Barcelona perfect reminder of 2009 Overbo episode?

Oh yes, no one could have done it better than Inter Milan. The Nerazzurri robbed title holders Barcelona at the San Siro in the Champions League yesterday, as they stole a controversial 3-1 victory to bag a powerful home advantage.

Portuguese Referee Olegário Benquerença undeniably played a major role in Jose Mourinho’s triumph over the Catalans, but somehow, Barca fans do not have too much to complain about, as Inter Milan just gave them the perfect reminder of the great incident which took place at Chelsea’s Stanford Bridge last season, following Ref Tom Henning Ovrebo’s incomprehensible decisions against the Blues.

How Barcelona reached the 2009 Champions League final

The semifinal was surely Barcelona’s most difficult stage of the Champions League last season, where they met English Premier League experts, Chelsea. The Blues were, at that time, coached by professional manager Guus Hiddink, and in view of Barcelona’s accumulating fatigue in the league despite their fine form, Chelsea were aiming to end the “sweet dreams” of the Blaugrana.

However, the two sides met in the first leg at the Camp Nou, and Chelsea were surprisingly favored by the official, who unjustifiably retained his cards against the visitors, although their challenges were unacceptable.

With striker Thierry Henry being hurt by Alex, and with the referee refusing to make justice, the first leg ended 0-0 at the disappointment of Barcelona. Their task then became bigger ahead of their second leg match at the Stanford Bridge, knowing that the Blues had an outstanding Champions League home record.

Consequently, Barca faced their opponents in London with more belief than with cleverness, and early in the game, Ghanaian midfielder Michael Essien fired a bullet strike from long-range to stun the Spanish giants with an unexpected opener. Regardless, Barcelona kept fighting with all their strength, and luckily, Drogba seemed to be completely out of form, failing to convert the easiest of chances.

For some reasons, Ovrebo—who happened to be the leading referee in that particular match—opted to deny four clear penalties to the home side within the 90 minutes of the game—giving the Catalans even more chances to qualify to the final through a single equalizer.

Indeed, notwithstanding Eric Abidal’s wrong red card, Spanish veteran player Andres Iniesta went on to get a last-minute goal which sent Barcelona through the next stage on away goals.

The Chelsea players were furious against the referee, arguing that Barca had wrongly defeated them, but Ovrebo felt unconvinced, and with UEFA refusing to reverse the Norwegian official’s mistakes, Pep Guardiola’s side continued their road to glory in Europe.

Revenge from Jose Mourinho on the behalf of Chelsea?

By chance, the referee who officiated the Inter Milan vs Barcelona match at the San Siro in the Champions League yesterday was of Portuguese origin, making many Spanish fans think that his nationality and possibly his loyalty to his country flag was one of the many reasons why he favored Portuguese coach Jose Mourinho, at the anger of the Azulgranas.

Missing cards for Maicon, Lucio, Walter Samuel, and Sneijder, as well a goal for Maicon from a controversial build-up, and suspiciously offside goal by Diego Milito, in addition to the denial of a clear penalty for Dani Alves, explicitly shows how much Barcelona were robbed; but expectedly, none of Inter’s key members accepted their “unfairness” against their visitors.

Watch the video highlights of Maicon's goal against Barca

Bizarrely, when Jose Mourinho was asked about the controversy in the game, this is what he was quoted saying by RAI as he was replying:

“We (Inter) won and we really deserved it, […]. After the encounter, I saw some things in the players' tunnel that showed me what it is that I must expect next week.

"I saw the Barcelona players trying to put pressure on the referee; and my only comment was that their players have short memories. 'My' Chelsea players last season were complaining after a historically bad refereeing performance by Ovrebo (at the Stanford Bridge).

"Why can’t Barcelona act like champions and accept that they lost on the night to a team that played better? We played so well.”

Indubitably, this statement from the Portuguese coach shows how shameless he is when it comes to judging the favor of Referee Benquerença toward Inter on the night. In fact, one might even think that he was proud of it, as it also served as a revenge on the behalf of those he still refer to as “his” Chelsea players.

What justifies such a though is that there have been reports that when the Barcelona midfielder Xavi Hernandez confronted the Inter Milan coach, Mourinho replied:

“Why are you asking me (about the referee in the Inter-Barcelona match)? What about the Chelsea match last season?"

The Portuguese was clearly making reference to the Ovrebo incident at the Stanford Bridge last season; yet in reality, what right does Mourinho have to remind Barcelona about their “injustice” against his former team when he himself profited from the bad decisions of referees Manuel Enrique Mejuto González and Wolfgang Stark in both legs against Chelsea in the round of 16?

The Balance—The Justice

As it stands now, Barcelona will have to win at least 2-0 at the Camp Nou next week against Inter Milan. However, no one can deny the verity that Barcelona should have got a great advantage at the San Siro if the referee had judged the battle as a neutral.

Perchance, many might take such an officiating as the “perfect” manner to remind Barcelona of how they controversially became the world’s greatest team, but what many forget is what happened at the Camp Nou in the first place.

Chelsea, in truth, attempted to use the referee to bring down Barcelona just as they did repeatedly over the years. Nevertheless, regardless of all the favor they received, they were unable to break the deadlock following a strongly negative game on their part; hence, it was all down to Barcelona who did not hesitate to make the most out of their gift at the Stanford Bridge.

In the end, it is easy to say that a good officiating in the first leg at the Camp Nou in 2009 would have probably given Barcelona a good home advantage ahead of the second leg, in which Chelsea would have thus been under deep pressure from their first-leg setback.

As a result, Barcelona would have probably reached the final anyway; nevertheless, what keeps dwelling in the mind of most football fans is the negative and shameful way in which they managed to become 2009 Champions League finalists. In any case, Jose Mourinho does not have any good reason to use the 2009 Ovrebo incident as a defense for Inter’s so-called victory against La Liga champions, as the Barcelona-Chelsea encounter last season turned out to be a case of payback.

Now, having taken his bonus chances at the San Siro, Mourinho and Inter Milan can therefore look forward to being victims of injustice at the Camp Nou. It will then be up to them to try and do as well as Barcelona, at least to extend their return leg to extra time.

Just as the Barca defender Gerard Pique said, the fact that Barcelona could be favored at home next Wednesday is pretty much likely; but in his case, it is more a wish than a possibility.

"We had no help from the referees (against Inter Milan),” declared the Spanish back player. “The second leg (in Spain) has to have an impartial referee.”

Finally, fans from both sides will be advised to take their calm before the next clash at the Camp Nou, seeing that the most unthinkable things could happen for either side. Let us just wait and see who gets a ticket for the final at the Bernabeu Stadium in May.

Get all the videos of that match here.