I’ve seen some inept performances by referees over the years but the display by Viktor Kassai in last Tuesday’s Real Madrid vs Bayern Munich game was up there with the very worst.

How a man who doesn’t grasp the concept of offside or have a clue what actually constitutes a foul is allowed to referee a Champions League quarter-final is beyond me.

This wasn’t just Kassai having a bad day at the office, this was him showing a complete and utter inability to referee a football match. His failings didn’t just ruin the game as a spectacle, they fundamentally changed the outcome.

Sending off Arturo Vidal for one of the greatest tackles you are going to see this season was an act of football vandalism. Failing to notice that two of Cristiano Ronaldo’s three goals were blatantly offside was a pure dereliction of duty. Missing so many blatant fouls by Real players was incredible.

Of course, Kassai can’t take all the blame. His assistants proved to be about as much use as a pair of waterproof tea bags. And the two behind the goalposts, well, they might as well have been selling pies to the crowd.

On this performance you can only conclude that this group of officials were plucked from the heady heights of Sunday league football in Afghanistan.

Unsurprisingly, this Mr Bean-like display from the men in black (and yellow) has prompted calls for video replays to be introduced without further delay.

And, while I reluctantly accept the use of technology is becoming increasingly inevitable, in the meantime it might help if Uefa actually found out before a game if the people they have chosen to officiate have ever actually seen a game of football.

Bayern fans must have woken up last Wednesday morning feeling utterly violated. There is nothing worse in football than knowing it wasn’t your opponents that beat you, it was the match officials.

Which leads me to another point I have heard brought up over the last few days – is there something more sinister to this than mere referee crapness?

There is nothing worse in football than knowing it wasn’t your opponents that beat you, it was the match officials

Personally I don’t think there is, but it is an interesting coincidence that pretty much every single important decision Kossai and the rest of Team Useless got wrong – and there were at least a dozen – was in Real’s favour.

In isolation you may think nothing of it.

But when you consider how many dodgy decisions went in Barcelona’s favour when they overcome Paris Saint-Germain in the last round, you do start to wonder if the football gods, or Uefa at they are known colloquially, would quite like a Spanish team to win this season’s Champions League…

Still no title race

So does last weekend’s Chelsea defeat to Manchester United mean the title race is now back on? Nope.

Don’t get me wrong, I sincerely wish it was. I would much, much prefer Tottenham Hotspur to win the league than their London rivals.

But when you look at the respective run-ins of the two teams, I just can’t see it happening.

Chelsea’s only remaining proper test is Everton away. The rest of their games are against teams with nothing to play for or who will probably be relegated by then.

Spurs, on the other hand, have Arsenal, Manchester United, Leicester City, Crystal Palace, West Ham United and Hull City.

True, Mauricio Pochettino’s team have the momentum on the back of seven straight wins. But whereas I can see Chelsea possibly dropping four points over their remaining games, I can’t see Spurs managing six straight wins.

Oh how the team from White Hart Lane must be regretting their slow start to the season…

Claudio still in denial

Claudio Ranieri recently admitted that somebody at Leicester wanted him out.

And, in other shocking news, the Earth is round, Donald Trump is a few sandwiches short of a picnic and Sunderland are getting relegated.

What is surprising, however, is that he still believes it wasn’t the players who stabbed him in the back. “I can’t believe my players killed me. No, no, no,” the Italian told Sky Sports.

Instead he thinks one particular person wanted him gone, and the poor results this season helped that person achieve his goal. You’ve got to admire the man’s integrity. Even if he is slightly naïve.

It may well have been this unnamed man who wanted him out of the King Power Stadium. But, as Ranieri said, it was the awful performances of his team that gave the man the ammunition he needed.

And the only people responsible for the performances were the players. Players who only started playing to their potential after Ranieri was fired.

I’m sorry Claudio, but while it may be painful to admit it, the players did you in.

Sam the man

Crystal Palace are heading towards mid-table safety in style, putting in some excellent performances along the way. It really does look like Sam Allardyce has pulled off yet another remarkable rescue job.

Say what you like about Big Sam, and plenty of people do, but he knows English football inside out, and there aren’t many other managers with his ability to motivate, organise and inspire teams.

Come to think of it, he would probably make a pretty good England manager. Oh wait…

sportscolumnist@timesofmalta.com
Twitter: @maltablade