Soccer: Buffon gets 3-match ban (3)

(ANSA) - Turin, June 5 - Former Juventus keeper and skipper Gianluigi Buffon got a three-match UEFA ban for his red card and subsequent statements against referee Michael Oliver after the official awarded a last-minute winning penalty to Real Madrid in their Champions League quarterfinal on April 11. Buffon, who retired from playing last month but has been linked to PSG for another season or two, said Oliver had a "trash can in place of a heart" in giving Real the penalty Cristiano Ronaldo slotted home for an aggregate win after Juve had staged a remarkable 3-0 recovery at the Bernabeu and looked to be heading into extra time.
    On May 17 - Buffon admitted he had "gone too far" in jostling and shouting at Oliver and the subsequent trash can statement.
    "In the night of Madrid off the field I certainly went too far and I'm extremely sorry," he said.
    "If I had met the ref Oliver two days later I would have embraced him, asking for his forgiveness, confirming however that he could have been a bit less stern for such an important match for us and for myself personally. But I don't bear any grudge.
    The match looked set to go to extra time after the Serie A champions staged a stunning comeback, going ahead 3-0 on the night to pull level on aggregate, thanks to a double by Mario Mandzukic and a Blaise Matuidi goal stemming from a blunder by Real's goalkeeper.
    But Juve's hopes were dashed when Ronaldo converted a 93rd-minute penalty after Lucas Vazquez went down when challenged from behind by Medhi Benatia.
    An April 16, five days after the match, FIFA refereeing supreme Massimo Busacca scolded Buffon for saying Oliver should have thought of the moment in the match.
    "The ref is a job where you have to decide in less than a second and you can't think about many things," Busacca told Premium Sport over a decision many Bianconeri fans thought was wrong but most neutrals deemed correct.
    "It's like for goalkeepers, you have to save with your instinct without thinking, and it's the same for us.
    "We have to focus on the decision of the moment, which is already tough to take." Buffon said Oliver should have been more "sensitive" to the moment in the match.