Is referee Tom Henning Ovrebo to blame for Chelsea’s loss to Barcelona Wednesday night?

Last night, FC Barcelona came back from an 0-1 deficit with a late goal from Iniesta to advance to the Champions League final. In the final few moments as Chelsea frantically tried to score another goal, Michael Ballack took a shot that hit off the upper arm/shoulder area of a Barcelona defender. As the ball was cleared out, the Chelsea midfielder and German international began screaming at referee Tom Henning Ovrebo over what he thought was a blantant handball. This was just one of the controversial plays the Norwegian referee has been criticized by writers, fans, commentators, and the Chelsea players. The key question from all this remains, Is the referee to blame for Chelsea’s loss? Did he cost them the game or did he just make a mistake that referees will inevitably do?

Let’s examine the different conclusions that Tom Henning Ovrebo made mistakes but isn’t to blame for the loss, or that his mistakes led to Chelsea losing against Barcelona. It’s widely accepted the referee made some mistakes in Wednesday’s game but still unclear what effect these had on the game.

Tom Henning Ovrebo is to blame for Chelsea’s loss

It’s clear that Ovrebo too often let things go during the match and did not call a few very obvious fouls. The most noticably was a handball in the box against Barcelona, and a foul on Didier Drogba who was tackled in the box. From the start the referee was allowing a lot of physical play which is acceptable, but certain fouls have to be called in any game.

It is clear that Chelsea deserved at least ONE of these calls which would have given them a penalty kick. Now, it’s possible that the penalty might not have been converted but its more than likely it would have resulted in another Chelsea goal. This would be assuming the very least and Chelsea arguably should have had at least the penalty for the foul on Drogba and at least one handball in the second half. Either way you look at it, the decisions by the referee cost Chelsea at least 2 penalty kicks which they would almost definitely converted at least one and a good chance they’d score goals on both. Looking at the game from this perspective, it’s fair to say that Ovrebo is to blame for Chelsea’s loss.

Ovrebe made mistakes but he isn’t to blame for Chelsea’s loss

While everyone will agree that the Norwegian ref made some mistakes, Chelsea were still in control of the match until the very end. Even without the penalties given, they had held Barcelona scoreless till the end and can only blame themselves for conceding the last goal. Iniesta was complete unmarked in a great position to score and he converted. Furthermore, you can’t rely on the referee to make certain calls, because it doesn’t always happen. The London club had opportunities during the game and could have been the game out of reach if they had been able to convert on scoring chances.

Referees will always make mistakes and while Tom Henning Ovrebo missed a handball, it doesn’t necessarily mean that Chelsea would win. The handball that Ballack wanted in the final moments was questionable and not a clear cut penalty. Chelsea fans will inevitably feel robbed but they have only themselves to blame for a late defensive lapse that allowed Messi to find Iniesta for the goal. Perhaps the biggest mistake Chelsea made was being too defensive in the first leg at the Camp Nou in which they weren’t able to get an away goal. Some credit has to be given to Barcelona for staying in the game, even with only 10 men, and finding a way to win in the final moments.

Whatever you side you stand on, it was a Great Game

There will always be those who will view this as a game where Chelsea were robbed, screwed, or whatever other verb you’d like to call it. Either way, the game was exciting to watch and full of drama. Of course, the refereeing could have been improved but beyond that it was a battle of two great soccer teams. Let’s only hope the quality of play is similar for the final of Barcelona against Manchester United, and the judgement of the referee is much better.

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