Mourinho has confidence in ref Webb

Mourinho has confidence in ref Webb

Published May. 22, 2010 2:45 p.m. ET

Inter coach Jose Mourinho is confident English referee Howard Webb will do a "great job" in the Champions League final against Bayern Munich.

Referees have again come under the spotlight during this season's Champions League, including matches involving both finalists.

During Bayern's last-16 first leg win over Fiorentina, Norwegian referee Tom Henning Ovrebo sent the Italian side's defender Massimo Gobbi off for an innocuous-looking tackle and then missed what appeared to be a dangerous two-footed lunge from Bayern striker Miroslav Klose.

Ovrebo - who officiated the controversial semi-final between Barcelona and Chelsea last season - then allowed Klose's late winning goal to stand despite the home striker being well offside.

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Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson also felt the Bayern players had pressured Italian referee Nicola Rizzoli into showing his young defender Rafael Da Silva a second yellow card during their quarter-final exit at the hands of the German side.

For Inter, the attention fell on Portuguese referee Olegario Benquerenca during their 3-1 first leg win over Barcelona in the semi-finals, with accusations the official had favoured the Italians.

However, Mourinho envisages no problems for tomorrow's final at the Bernabeu in Madrid.

When asked about past refereeing controversies in Europe this season, the former Chelsea boss said: "Anything that happened in the

Bayern-Fiorentina match or Manchester United-Bayern, for me doesn't have any meaning today.

"Why? Because there is no a law of compensation in football. The referee is not going to go out on the pitch tomorrow and think 'Bayern were 'helped out' in their match against Fiorentina and today I'm going to be prejudiced against them' or 'Inter were maybe helped by the refereeing against Barcelona, so I am going to help one of the two teams to make up for it'.

"The referee will go out tomorrow, without the law of compensation. We want to win. Bayern want to win. And the referee also wants to win tomorrow.

"A referee when he officiates a Champions League final with his assistants, they want to triumph. For that reason, I expect them to go out and do a great job because also for them this is the top, to get to this match. This and the final of the World Cup, if you get there you want to do a great job. So I am not worried and have great faith in them doing a great job."

Earlier in the day, Bayern coach Louis van Gaal had appealed to FIFA president Sepp Blatter and UEFA chief Michel Platini to introduce changes to help referees make key decisions due to the amount at stake in top matches.

The Champions League final is the latest prestigious appointment for Webb, regarded as England's leading referee, following his selection for this summer's World Cup.

The 38-year-old has already taken charge of six Champions League fixtures this season, including Inter's quarter-final first leg against CSKA Moscow.

Countrymen Michael Mullarkey and Darren Cann will be his assistants with Martin Atkinson the fourth official.

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