The argument Eamon Dunphy started to make about the Gianluigi Buffon red card was pretty poor.
Eamon Dunphy and the rest of the RTE panel had the pleasure of being in the studio for one of the most dramatic Champions League ties in recent memory.
After losing 3-0 at home, Juventus needed to score a hat-trick of goals in the return leg to keep their tournament hopes alive. An hour in, they found themselves three-zip up and looked destined to take this game to extra time.
However, in the 11th hour, their dreams were dashed. Substitute Lucas Vasquez went down under a challenge inside the box and referee Michael Oliver blew up and pointed straight to the spot. Gianluigi Buffon, who will retire this year, lost the rag.
His reaction was deemed a little too aggressive by the man in the middle who flashed the red card. Buffon’s replacement, Wojciech Szczesny stood in between the posts as Cristiano Ronaldo fired a spot-kick straight into the back of the net.
Late drama at the Bernebeu! A penalty for Real and Buffon sent off for protesting too vigorously #ChampionsLeague pic.twitter.com/U8gJPcBbme
— RTÉ Soccer (@RTEsoccer) April 11, 2018
Seeing red
Initially, Dunphy thought that Buffon should not have received his marching orders over the incident. During RTE’s coverage of the game, the pundit stated that Oliver ‘should have resisted giving Buffon the red card.”
When Darragh Maloney asked him why he thought that, Dunphy gave a simply astonishing response.
“Because it’s his last game in this Champions League, he’s been a credit to football in so many ways and I think his response was short of a red card. The benefit of the foubt sometimes would do. I think he should have respected Buffon.”
Let’s be clear here, two-thirds of that argument is complete and utter bollocks. The only way it can be argued that it wasn’t a red card offence is if it wasn’t a red card offence. Buffon’s character, his service to the game and everything he’s done before that incident doesn’t come into play.
Once he saw another angle of the incident, Dunphy agreed that the punishment suited the offence. From that angle, he could see that Buffon had made contact with the referee.
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