Xabi Alonso has criticised the rules regarding yellow cards that will see him miss the Champions League final.
Alonso was booked during Real Madrid’s 4-0 semi-final second-leg win over Bayern Munich last night and will be forced to sit out the game in Lisbon through suspension.
Sergio Ramos, scorer of the first two goals of the night, was also waking a disciplinary tightrope but avoided a caution before he was substituted in the second-half.
“Over time I home I forget about this,” AS reports Alonso as saying.
“I find the card itself quite dubious. It’s a failure. I find the rule unfair.
“A card that means you miss a final isn’t fair. Hopefully we win the final and forget this displeasure.”
Alonso added that he raised his protestations with former referee Pierluigi Collina, who was watching the match from the stands.
The former Liverpool midfielder also paid tribute to his teammates for banishing the bad memories of the past three seasons, where Madrid have been knocked out of the competition at the semi-final stage.
“It took three years of collapsing in the semi-finals and we wanted to play a game for those who remembered that,” Alonso said.
“Even the most optimistic wouldn’t have thought we’d have a game like this. I hope we go and win the final.
“We’re used to finals and hopefully it won’t be a let-down. I really wanted to be in the Champions League final.
“We deserved to win both games against Bayern. We were in total control and I’ve never known such a perfect match.
“We’re satisfied at being in the final no matter the opponent. We have to win it, we don’t just deserve it.”
