Controversial refereeing

The first minutes

The first minutes of a match are very important. Players get to know the referee's attitude towards the game. Mr Dean shut his eyes on a brutal foul on Lucas Barrios, he even waved play on! This was a clear mistake. Then he showed Dortmund's Schmelzer a yellow card for a less brutal foul. I wonder why referees consider heavy foul play in the 45th min more important than in the 5th min, it is not consistent.

The decisive moment

Then Schmelzer was booked for the second time. A referee who knows that a player is already booked has to be sure that the offence was "diving". But TV replays showed there was a contact. That doesn't mean it was a foul, but there was no need to book the already booked player for simulation. From that moment on the Spaniards could defend their lead against a weakened German side. They could have equalised, but the young forward Kagawa hit the post.

Body language

Mr Dean didn't react as a professional once the crowd created a strained atmosphere. His body language was a bit provoking, I wished there had been Howard Webb who is able to calm down players (ok, not in the WC final...) and talk in a friendly manner to them. But Mr Dean was the boss and showed it to the 50.000 crowd. But between the 49th and the 60th min he hardly controlled the ill-tempered match. Many fouls and dissent followed his over-reaction to send off the Dortmund player.

The result

Sevilla won 1-0, Dortmund had bad luck, but this is football. And it's wonderful to discuss the referee's decisions, we don't need technical help. Mike Dean and his assistants did many things right, but in my opinion he did some important things wrong. A referee has to "read" the game, not to manage it like a tax office.