Italian media have expressed harsh criticism against Björn Kuipers after his performance in the eighth final of the Champions League between Juventus and FC Porto (3-2). The Dutch referee had his hands full with the game and is accused of not awarding a penalty to Juventus in extra time, while he put the ball on the spot for Porto after more than fifteen minutes of play. Moreover, Kuipers sent Porto striker Mehdi Taremi off the field ten minutes after the break with a second yellow card. The 3-2 victory after a 2-1 defeat in Portugal was not enough for Juventus to qualify for the quarter finals.
The day after the elimination, the Italian media does not only focus on the mediocre game of Juventus. Kuipers also has to pay for it. “This arbitration is not due to the Champions League. The credibility of the tournament is at stake ”, headlined Tuttosport Wednesday. Kuipers awarded a penalty to Porto after nineteen minutes of play, when Merih Demiral hit Taremi’s leg in an attempt to clear the ball. Kuipers was relentless and saw how Sérgio Oliveira put Porto on a 0-1 lead from the spot.
Italian media agreed with the arbitrator’s decision. “Demiral fouls Taremi in the penalty area. Referee Kuipers whistles for a penalty and Oliveira helps Porto to a lead. L’erroraccio arriva fine, the error comes first ”, said La Gazzetta dello Sport. Also Eurosport thinks the Dutch person’s decision is fair. “Taremi wants to hit on a penalty. Kuipers has no doubts and points to the dot. A decision that can be defended. Demiral makes contact with his opponent and is way too naive in his own penalty area. ” Kuipers received a 5 out of 10 for his performance La Gazzetta dello Sport. “It was not an easy match for a referee, but he made too many mistakes,” said the newspaper. Assistant referee Erwin Zeinstra gets a 6.5.
In the first half of extra time, Juventus shouted for a penalty kick, when Cristiano Ronaldo was knocked out 2-1 in the Porto penalty area by goalkeeper Agustín Marchesín. Kuipers dismissed the protests and let play continue. “He comes into a split, conquers the ball and also takes Ronaldo with him. Kuipers sees it happen, but lets play on, incredibilmente!“, writes Corriere dello Sport. That intervention was borderline, but the arbitrator let it go ”, signs Tuttosport on.
“Signor Kuipers immediately made it clear that the Argentinian keeper was playing the ball. But he took a lot of risk by sliding his legs ”, writes the Italian branch of Eurosport. Ten minutes after the debatable penalty moment, Kuipers awarded a free kick to Porto, with which Oliveira put the visitors at 2-2. Two minutes later, Juventus was still 3-2 via Adrien Rabiot from a corner kick by substitute Federico Bernardeschi, but that was not enough to reach the quarterfinals.