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ESPNsoccernet: UEFA Champions League | |
Edwin van der Sar has backed Sir Alex Ferguson's suggestion that Bayern Munich used underhand tactics to knock Manchester United out of the Champions League.
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United beat Bayern 3-2 at Old Trafford on Wednesday but, having lost the first leg 2-1 in Germany, went out on away goals.
However, United had looked to be in control for much of the first half and Ferguson felt that a second yellow card for Rafael tipped the balance in Bayern's favour.
United were still 3-1 ahead when Rafael fouled Franck Ribery, leading a number of Bayern players to surround the referee in protest, and Ferguson blamed the sending off on the actions of 'typical Germans'.
"They got him sent off," Ferguson said. "Everyone sprinted towards the referee. They were never getting through that tie. With 11 men, we had no problem."
A sublime Arjen Robben strike from a corner ultimately proved the difference but Van der Sar agrees that United's exit came due to the hounding of Italian ref Nicola Rizzoli.
"Everybody knows who has the cards and they're very good at that," he told MUTV. "Obviously the referee wasn't going to do it. I think they put some pressure on him and he got the card out.
"If it's 11 v 11, they have to come back to score the second one, and on the counter or even with the way we pressed them, we would probably have got more chances."
He added: "I think we deserved to go through. They got a lucky goal in the last minute last week. Today we had ten men and, even then, they didn't create many chances - it had to be a wonder goal to kick us out."
Darron Gibson, meanwhile, has called on his team-mates to put the Bayern result out of their minds and focus on catching Chelsea at the top of the Premier League.
"We either lie down and let the whole season go or we stand back up and fight for the championship," he said. "We've got the experience in the dressing room to do it - a lot of the players have been in this position before."
Meanwhile, UEFA have confirmed they will take no action against Ferguson for his "typical Germans'' jibe.