Robin van Persie has labelled referee Massimo Busacca “a joke” after his red card in Arsenal’s 3-1 defeat to Barcelona.

Van Persie was shown a second yellow card in the 56th minute of the game for kicking the ball away. The Gunners had held an advantage at the Camp Nou at the time of the dismissal after Sergio Busquets’ own goal made it 1-1 on the night.

Barca took full advantage of the extra man as Xavi levelled the scores on aggregate before Lionel Messi converted a penalty when Pedro was brought down by Laurent Koscielny.

Asked if the sending off had a significant impact on the result, Van Persie told Sky Sports: “I believe so. I think it had a big influence. It was a total joke, the sending off, because how can I hear his whistle with 95,000 people jumping up?”

When it was pointed out that there was just one second between the whistle and Van Persie’s shot, the striker replied: “Makes it even worse. This way – one second from his whistle to my shot – makes it even worse.

“If there were four, five, six seconds in between, you can make a check [for offside]. One second, it’s a joke.

“It’s just a joke. He’s been bad all evening. He’s been a joke all evening, whistling against us. I don’t know why he’s here tonight. I think it’s a joke.”

He added: “We feel betrayed a bit. When it was 1-1, it was all to play for, and in my opinion the ref killed the game.”

With Arsenal failing to register a shot on target during the game, Arsene Wenger accepted that Barcelona had been impressive but stressed that the decision may have had a significant influence on the outcome.

“We lost against a good team,” he said. “In the first half we resisted pressure – I think the second would have been very interesting if we had stayed 11 against 11. Unfortunately it was not the case.

“There are regrets when you see how we went out – the way we did, it is very difficult to accept.”

On Van Persie’s second booking, he said: “With the people shouting, if he takes his chance I see no reason to give a second yellow card. To do that, [the referee] must absolutely have never played football.

“I told him what I think about his decision face to face and there is not a lot more to say.”

Pep Guardiola said he could understand the anger over the dismissal but emphasised that his own team’s performance had been decisive.

“Arsenal defended very, very well but they didn’t make more than three passes [in succession],” he said. “It was difficult with ten against 11 and after the situation with the second yellow, I can understand the reaction.

“We created a lot of chances, we played a perfect game. We’re so, so happy about our performance. Over the two legs, we were better than them.”

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1-0 Messi 45’+3

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1-1 Busquets 53’ (o.g.)

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2-1 Xavi 69’

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3-1 Messi 71’ (pen.)

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UCL – Barcelona v. Arsenal – HIGHLIGHTS – 31 Mins – SKYHD – HTTP
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Tottenham’s star duo Rafael van der Vaart and Gareth Bale look to be winning their battle to be fit for Wednesday’s Champions League clash with AC Milan.

Dutch forward Van der Vaart and Welsh winger Bale both took part in Tuesday morning’s training session ahead of the second leg of Tottenham’s last-16 tie with AC Milan. Peter Crouch’s late winner at a volatile San Siro gives Spurs a 1-0 advantage from the first leg.

Bale, who missed out on the trip to Italy due to a back injury, made his first appearance in six weeks when he came off the bench against Premier League rivals Wolves on Sunday.

Van der Vaart missed the 3-3 draw at Molineux and has not played for three weeks, but looked sprightly during an open session at the club’s training ground in Chigwell, Essex.

Younes Kaboul, who has been out since December with a knee injury, also trained and could be fit for a shock return against the Rossoneri.

Ledley King also took part but Jonathan Woodgate, who made his comeback from a long-term groin injury in the San Siro, did not train and looks to be out of Wednesday’s showdown.

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Real Madrid midfielder Kaka has been told that he would have to take a huge paycut if he wanted to return to AC Milan in the summer.

Milan vice-president Adriano Galliani responded to speculation that the Brazilian midfielder could be set to return to the San Siro after a troubled spell with Madrid in which injuries and form have hindered his development, by claiming that a deal would be very difficult to strike.

Having previously maintained that the club have no immediate plans to add the former World Player of the Year to the squad, Galliani also insisted that his wages would provide a major stumbling block in any case.

“Kaka’s return to Milan? Ricardo earns too much, because in Spain they pay less taxes,” Galliani told RaiDue. “I am sorry that he has problems in Madrid, but to come back to us he would have to drop a lot his salary. We can afford the wage of only one [player like] Ibrahimovic.”

Milan owner Silvio Berlusconi also played down talk of a possible move, but claimed that Kaka would be welcome if he did decide to return.

“Should he want to come back, it would be good news,” Berlusconi told Tuttosport. “Anyway, I don’t think it is possible, not at this moment. But should he want to come back, this would really be great news for Milan and for all supporters.”

Meanwhile, Real Madrid have confirmed that Kaka faces a further fortnight on the sidelines after suffering another knee injury.

The 28-year-old only recently returned to first-team action following eight months out, and he felt another niggle to the same knee which underwent surgery during the match against Deportivo La Coruna at the end of last month.

He subsequently underwent scans which uncovered an oedema – an accumulation of fluid – on the knee.

A Madrid statement read: “Treatment includes fitness work in the gymnasium and on the pitch, as well as complementary physiotherapy. The player is expected to miss 15 days and his progress will be monitored.”

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Manchester United chief executive David Gill has defended the club’s decision to snub various fan organisations that were “at war with the owners”.

Gill said the board were correct in refusing to hold talks with groups such as the Manchester United Supporters Trust (MUST) because their primary goal was to oust the Glazer family from Old Trafford.

MUST and other fans groups are angry at the way the American owners have plunged a previously profitable club into debt and then used the club’s turnover to service the half a billion pound deficit.

Gill insisted on Tuesday the board took full account of the concerns of supporters, with whom they held three to four meetings each year. But he insisted MUST would continue to be excluded “unless they change their objective”.

“We are not going to engage in structured dialogue with organisations like that,” Gill told a House of Commons Select Committee inquiry into football governance. “I don’t think it’s appropriate. They are at war with the owners.”

Gill went on to insist that the Glazers are doing a commendable job, highlighting United’s seven major trophy wins since the family’s purchase of the club in 2005.

“Not everyone hates the owners,” Gill said on Sky Sports News. “They’re well-organised. They’re very domestic.

“We’ve done studies that show we have 333 million followers from around the world. We get thousands of emails, we got 36,000 phone calls last month.

“(Look at) the success we’ve delivered on the pitch in the last five years – seven trophies since they’ve taken over.

“A lot of the fans want to ensure that there’s money to be spent on the team, that they come to a safe, modern stadia, that (United) play exciting, attractive football. And I think we’ve delivered on those accounts.”

And Gill defended the foreign ownership – the Glazers are American – of Premier League clubs.

“Passport is not an issue,” he said. “You can have very bad English owners, very bad British owners.”

He also backed the Glazers’ refusal to communicate directly with United fans, claiming they had delegated himself and manager Sir Alex Ferguson to do so.

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