Buffon can complain all he wants, referee Oliver twice made the correct call

The Englishman will have impressed boss Collina and deserves a spot at Qatar 2022

Many in the Premier League believe Michael Oliver has what it takes to be one of the best referees in the world, although it would be fair to say that if Real Madrid’s Champions League quarter-final first leg against Juventus had been closer than 3-0 he would not have been in charge of the second leg.

Oliver, 33, had been moved on to the Uefa elite list of referees only in January, too late for the World Cup finals which will not include a single English official, but there is an appetite to develop him. By half-time Oliver will have realised that this was turning into one of the games of his life. By the end of it Gianluigi Buffon would accuse the English referee of having “a bin where his heart should be”. “He blew for a foul only he saw,” said the Italian – but Oliver was right.

He has been refereeing in the Champions League for two seasons

now, but it was as this game went into its closing stages that he was faced with two huge decisions in quick succession. For experienced referee-watchers, the speed with which Oliver awarded the injurytime penalty against Medhi Benatia for running into the back of Lucas Vazquez suggested that there was no dialogue with his assistants and the official made the call based on his own view of the incident. It was a close call but the correct one and from then on Oliver had another decision to make. Surrounded by Juventus players, Oliver was suddenly tipped forward and immediately looked behind him to see where the shove came from.

He did not have to look far to note that the man shouting in his face was Gianluigi Buffon, the 40-year-old Italian who was in all likelihood playing his last game in the one competition he has never won. Later in the BT Sport studio, Rio Ferdinand said that the “romantic” in him wanted to see Buffon stay on to face Cristiano Ronaldo’s penalty. “A heartbreaking moment” said Gary Lineker. But if Oliver sensed that Buffon had shoved him then he knows that physical contact with a referee is a clear red line which the officials are told time and again is punishable with a red card.

Once more, Oliver had no hesitation in making the decision he believed to be right. That he had the courage to do so, in spite of the profile of the character in front of him will have been noted by Uefa’s head of referees, Pierluigi Collina, who will be impressed.

In unexpected circumstances, Oliver found himself at the centre of a storm and acquitted himself well with two brave decisions. There may be no English referee at this summer’s World Cup, but Oliver should be at Qatar in 2022.