GARY LINEKER HAS accused Gianluigi Buffon of being “out of order” for his behaviour towards referee Michael Oliver in the wake of Juventus’ Champions League elimination by Real Madrid.
The Serie A side were knocked out of the competition in Wednesday’s quarter-final second-leg despite taking a 3-0 lead at the Santiago Bernabeu to draw level with Madrid on aggregate.
However, the encounter was soon turned on its head when Lucas Vazquez went down in the box in second-half injury time and was awarded a penalty by Oliver.
Buffon’s reaction to Oliver’s decision earned him a red card before Cristiano Ronaldo converted to send Madrid through to the last four.
The 40-year-old goalkeeper is alleged to have pushed the referee and went on to criticise the official after the game, saying he had a ”trash can” instead of a heart, while the discussion of the incident has carried on in media ever since.
In the days since the quarter-final, Oliver’s wife has been subject to abuse on social media, and Lineker feels some responsibility for the reaction lies with Buffon.
“These vituperous attacks on Michael Oliver and his wife are repugnant,” Lineker wrote on Twitter.
“Big admirer of Buffon but his behaviour since has been inflammatory and out of order.
“Oliver was doing his job and hard to argue against his decisions. Understand the emotion but time to defuse it, Gianluigi.”
Lineker is not the first to criticise the 40-year-old for his actions, as former Italy and Juventus team-mate Alessandro Del Piero questioned him, too.
However, Buffon had some support in the shape of Juventus legend Stefano Tacconi, who said he would have assaulted the referee had he been in the same situation.
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