Referee Who ‘Robbed’ Chelsea in 2009 Tom Ovrebo Finally Admits Chelsea Deserved a Penalty Against Barcelona

• On this day in 2009, Chelsea and Barcelona played out an enthralling UEFA Champions League semifinal second leg tie at Stamford Bridge
• The fixture which ended 1-1 ensured the Catalan giants qualified on away goal rule however many supporters of Chelsea look at the game with disdain following several penalty appeals waived off
• Tom Ovrebo, who is public enemy No.1 to Chelsea supporters after the game, was the man in charge of the said game and has finally admitted he got his penalty calls wrong

Retired Norwegian referee Tom Henning Ovrebo has admitted Chelsea deserved a penalty in their UEFA Champions League semifinal against FC Barcelona in 2009.

Assessing his performance in one of the most keenly contested semifinal clashes, Tom Ovrebo admits in hindsight he should have heeded at least one of the many calls for a penalty by Chelsea.

Unfortunately, the Norwegian official waived away all of Chelsea's penalty appeals much to the dismay of the enraged supporters gathered at Stamford Bridge on the fateful day.

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What ensued between Chelsea and Barcelona in 2009?

After the Blues secured a goalless draw in the first leg, they knew any form of a win would see them secure back-to-back Champions League finals, but it never materialized.

Ghana's Michael Essien scored an out-of-this-world volley to put Chelsea in the lead with no further goals added and the game drawing to a close, Barcelona cranked up the pressure.

But in between that period, Chelsea made serious incursions, especially in the box of Barcelona where Florent Malouda and Didier Drogba all had genuine penalty calls ignored.

Further handballs by Gerard Pique and future Chelsea striker Samuel Eto'o were all waived by Tom Ovrebo and then Iniesta pulled the chestnut out of the blazing fire when his last-gasp goal sent Barcelona to the finals on away goal rule.

“I'm sure the end of the match would have been much easier for us as a refereeing team if that [Iniesta] goal had not been scored." He told Sportsmail as quoted by Sports Bible.

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“Chelsea would have gone through to the final and their supporters would have gone to the pub and said, ‘maybe we should have had one or two or three or four or five or six penalties... but it doesn't matter tonight because we're through to the final.’

“I don't think the Chelsea supporters are correct when they claim four of five penalties, but I think everybody that knows football and the laws of the game knows there should have been a penalty given,” he said.

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English referee Mike Dean has reportedly announced that he will be retiring from football at the end of the 2021/22 season, according to The Telegraph.

The 53-year-old has been a Premier League official since 2000 and has been involved in over 600 games.

Dean has been part of a lot of controversy over the years for his decision-making, especially in some big games.