Poll: Teams DO target Man Utd's Ronaldo
Former Premiership ref Graham Poll admits match officials are aware that Manchester United star Cristiano Ronaldo is targeted by the opposition.
In his column for the Daily Mail, Poll wrote: "Sir Alex Ferguson was right to identify Villarreal's tactic of 'systematic' foul tackles on Cristiano Ronaldo but what can a referee do about it if other teams adopt the same approach?
"Italian official Roberto Rosetti did what he could to protect Ronaldo on Tuesday night, cautioning two Villarreal players and dismissing another for fouls on the United forward.
"However, it is not the duty of the referee to single out 'skilful' or 'creative' players for special protection - rather, he should look out for team tactics to foul one opponent continually and clamp down on this."
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Results & Fixtures
Matches
| Home | Away | Score | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sat Feb 11th | |||
| Racing Santander | Atlético Madrid | 0 - 0 | 17:00 |
| Osasuna | Barcelona | 3 - 2 | 19:00 |
| Real Betis | Athletic Club | 2 - 1 | 21:00 |
| Rayo Vallecano | Getafe | - | 23:00 |
| Real Sociedad | Sevilla | - | 23:00 |
| Valencia | Sporting Gijón | - | 23:00 |
| Espanyol | Real Zaragoza | - | 23:00 |
| Villarreal | Granada | - | 23:00 |
| Málaga | Mallorca | - | 23:00 |
| Real Madrid | Levante | - | 23:00 |
| Sun Feb 12th | |||
| Osasuna | Barcelona | - | 00:00 |
| Real Betis | Athletic Club | - | 00:00 |
| Real Sociedad | Sevilla | - | 00:00 |
| Racing Santander | Atlético Madrid | - | 00:00 |
| Espanyol | Real Zaragoza | 0 - 2 | 11:00 |
| Rayo Vallecano | Getafe | 2 - 0 | 15:00 |
| Málaga | Mallorca | 3 - 1 | 15:00 |
| Valencia | Sporting Gijón | 4 - 0 | 17:00 |
| Villarreal | Granada | 3 - 1 | 18:45 |
| Real Madrid | Levante | 4 - 2 | 20:30 |
| Mon Feb 13th | |||
| Real Sociedad | Sevilla | 2 - 0 | 20:00 |
Tables
| Team | P | W | D | L | GD | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Real Madrid | 22 | 19 | 1 | 2 | 54 | 58 |
| Barcelona | 22 | 14 | 6 | 2 | 47 | 48 |
| Valencia | 22 | 11 | 7 | 4 | 13 | 40 |
| Levante | 22 | 9 | 5 | 8 | 0 | 32 |
| Espanyol | 22 | 9 | 5 | 8 | -1 | 32 |
| Atletico Madrid | 22 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 31 |
| Malaga | 22 | 9 | 4 | 9 | -4 | 31 |
| Osasuna | 22 | 7 | 10 | 5 | -9 | 31 |
| Athletic Club | 22 | 7 | 9 | 6 | 4 | 30 |
| Rayo Vallecano | 22 | 8 | 4 | 10 | -5 | 28 |
| Real Sociedad | 22 | 7 | 6 | 9 | -5 | 27 |
| Getafe | 22 | 7 | 6 | 9 | -7 | 27 |
| Sevilla | 22 | 6 | 8 | 8 | -4 | 26 |
| Real Betis | 22 | 8 | 2 | 12 | -6 | 26 |
| Villarreal | 22 | 6 | 8 | 8 | -7 | 26 |
| Mallorca | 22 | 6 | 7 | 9 | -9 | 25 |
| Granada | 22 | 7 | 4 | 11 | -14 | 25 |
| Racing Santander | 22 | 4 | 11 | 7 | -8 | 23 |
| Sporting Gijon | 22 | 5 | 4 | 13 | -23 | 19 |
| Real Zaragoza | 22 | 3 | 6 | 13 | -20 | 15 |
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Comments (5)
This is a load of horse shit. He failed to take about the tactic on Man U part to get Marcus Senna out of the game. I watched that match and I prayed for the manager to take Senna off before they break his leg. Graham Poll just want people to know he is still alive and kicking, he should talk about more serious issues rather than seek cheap publicity.
How come refs like Poll never protected Hleb then? Arsenal didn't give them the right payoffs before the game or something? What a crock of s.h.i.t. All players should be treated the same by the ref, if it's a foul it is a foul, if it's not a foul then it's not a foul, which players are involved shouldn't enter into it.
CR7 is the best in the world and we will get rid of fifa president if he does any cheat this time around for not handling the ballon to him this coming month and yes refrees should always watch the way they tackle the world number one cause he actually just came back from a terrible injury and some silly player do envy him....
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