Michael Oliver's officiating record with Bayern Munich shows a 100% win percentage, having consistently carded both teams at a similar rate, with Madrid slightly worse under his control.
Inter Milan is preparing to accelerate their pursuit of Tottenham goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario, with the Italian international emerging as their primary target to become the club's long-term number one.
The ongoing discussions regarding future structural changes to the game, such as the introduction of new tournaments (eg. Fifa Club World Cup), further intensify this challenge. These changes have the potential to significantly reduce the downtime available to elite players, affecting their recovery and overall well-being.
Once you see two hands in live play, it looks like a push, a clear push. I delayed the whistle so that the play could continue, then obviously gave my final decision once the ball had gone into the goal and that allows the VAR then to potentially check if I've misread something or if it doesn't quite look right. But on-field it looked a very, very clear offence.
I know we won too much and the people don't want us to win but the referee has to be neutral and for me honestly, it's not fair. At the end, when everything is finished, we are frustrated because it's so clear the foul. He kicked the leg and of course with the push of the action on the ball, the ball goes in.
One poor decision is forgivable, two is careless, but there were a hat-trick of howlers, with Tammy Abraham clearly offside for Aston Villa's opener. Lucas Digne needed his own dedicated review booth, escaping with a yellow card for an agricultural tackle on Jacob Murphy and avoiding a penalty for handball. Officials ruled that Digne handled the ball outside the penalty area, an impressive feat given that he both took off and landed inside the box as he jumped to block a cross.
