Arsene Wenger: Referee killed Arsenal's game against Barcelona by sending off Robin van Persie

Arsene Wenger has claimed that even UEFA officials he spoke to were “shocked” by Arsenal striker Robin van Persie’s red card against Barcelona.

In a strong attack on referee Massimo Busacca's handling of the match’s pivotal moment, Wenger accused the official of “killing” the tie - which stood at 1-1 on the night, 3-2 in Arsenal's favour on aggregate at the time - for dismissing van Persie in the second half.

The Dutchman received a second yellow card for kicking the ball away only a second after Busacca blew his whistle, which the Frenchman believes was an “embarrassment” for the sport and ruined the game as a spectacle for neutrals and football lovers.

“How can you kill a football game like that?” said Wenger in his post-match press conference. “Two kinds of people can be unhappy. Those who love Arsenal and those who love football. It is very difficult to understand his [Busacca’s] attitude.

“Anyone who has played football at a certain level, you can’t understand how this decision can be taken at this level. It is impossible. It ruined a promising and fantastic football match. What for? If it is for a bad tackle, fair enough.

“Frankly, it is embarrassing if you love the game. I just spoke to Uefa people and they are shocked as well. If you are neutral you will never understand a decision like that.

“We lost against a very good Barcelona side. Congratulations to them and good luck to them in the future. We have many regrets tonight because we didn’t like to lose the game like that.”

At that point, Arsenal had just scored the equaliser through an own goal from Sergio Busquets but a Lionel Messi double and a Xavi strike gave Barcelona a 3-1 win on the night and a 4-3 advantage over the two legs.

Wenger admitted he had confronted Busacca afterwards but did not hear what he wanted.
With a heavy dose of sarcasm, the Frenchman said: “He was receptive, not necessarily to my view. He must think that he made the right decision.

“I feel Barcelona is good enough to win in a normal way against anybody. We want to be given the chance to play a normal game here.

“I felt that Barcelona gave a lot in the first half. We were completely dominated, I agree with that. In the second half there was more balance and overall I was convinced we would have won this game.”

Wenger also had to endure the agony of seeing his hugely promising goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny leave the field early on after injuring his finger saving a shot from Dani Alves.

“He has a dislocated finger,” said the Arsenal manager. “We have to check the injury. I don’t know yet how long he will be out.”