Bayern Munich striker Luca Toni says criticism of Italy's referees is over the top.

"At the end of the day, we Italians love to stir controversy - it's in our DNA," the former Fiorentina hero said. "If you watch the Bundesliga, you realise that Italian referees are much better than their German counterparts.

"The Germans are just lucky because they don't have such debate over their decisions."

However, Toni wasn't entirely dismissive of the concept of 'subconscious bias' - a factor he sees as unavoidable.

"Subconscious bias? That's always present when there are famous teams," he claimed.

"Given that Inter are the strongest side, they will always be attacked for questionable refereeing."