The Rational Ref | Blunders are part and parcel of the game we love
Players are just as guilty of making mistakes as officials, so Uefa should highlight and punish everyone's errors or let it ride
To err is human and to really foul things up takes a soccer referee, apparently.
In three of the four Uefa Champions League quarter-final matches following April Fool's day, there were glaring howlers, which made some wonder if it was not just one huge European joke. Some were appalling mistakes at the hands of match officials, but similarly there were disgraceful mistakes made by players and coaches. However, the blame is squarely crosshaired on match officials.
The biggest howler was by German referee Wolfgang Stark, who officiated the first-leg match between Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona. Stark's shocker is every referee's worst nightmare - an incorrect interpretation of the rules.
After allowing Barcelona players Jordi Alba and Javier Mascherano to be treated on the field, Stark told both players to go off and wait to be called back on. The players protested because they actually knew the rules. It is now not required for players to leave the pitch when "players from the same team have collided and need immediate attention". This amendment was introduced two seasons ago because it was considered an unfair advantage to the other team when two players from the same team had to leave the field following treatment.
This incident is a rare case where the players knew the rules better than the referee. Even though this blunder had no impact on the match, Barcelona did not win and therefore complained to Uefa.
There was also another howler in the match. During a free kick, PSG's Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored from an offside position.
In the Bayern Munich and Juventus match, English referee Mark Clattenburg missed a horror tackle, when Bayern's Franck Ribery scraped his studs down the right calf of opponent Arturo Vidal. That should have been a red card, with Ribery facing a three-match ban.