Legendary Dutch footballer an manager Johan Cruyff has hit out at referee Cuneyt Cakir following his decision to dismiss Nani in Manchester United’s 2-1 Champions League loss to Real Madrid last week

The Turkish official Cuneyt Cakir has been widely lambasted for his actions and Cruyff feels UEFA was wrong to award the second leg of the round of 16 tie to Cakir.

Johan Cruyff says the Turkish referee Cuneyt Cakir should never have been appointed to such a big game.

‘There’s a lot of talk about respect for each other, but that’s not really working out, is it? Just look at the decision to appoint this Turkish guy as the referee for the game between Manchester United and Real Madrid.

‘His mother is probably the only one who knows who he is,’ Cruyff said in his weekly column for Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf.

‘That immediately makes me wonder who in his right mind made the decision to award such a big game to this guy.

‘Especially when you look at the position both clubs find themselves in. You know that Real Madrid will not give anything away and can go pretty far. 

‘A referee should feel these kinds of things. This was not exactly the case with our Turkish friend.’

Manchester United were unable to defend their 1-0 lead after Nani’s dismissal and eventually lost the game 2-1, having drawn 1-1 in the first leg at the Santiago Bernabeu.

[adrotate banner=”32″]