Sammer questions ref as Dortmund fall to Real Madrid

Borussia Dortmund trainer Matthais Sammer questioned the decision making of ref Lubos Michel after his team lost 2-1 at Real Madrid last night.

The victory helped Real leapfrog BVB to second-place in their Champions League group and Sammer said afterwards, "The referee was not guilty of influencing the result, we are responsible for that."

"But there were decisions made which I cannot understand."

"Koller didn't appear to get any decisions go for him and there was a handball by Michel Salgado inside the Real Madrid area."

"These were decisions ignored that were important in the context of the game."

Real won thanks to goals from Raul and Ronaldo, after Koller had given BVB an early lead.

Real trainer Vicente del Bosque said, "I don't think the referee had any influence on the final result. We deserved the three points."

"It was a very satisfying result against a strong opponent. Their defence have played very well, but we created enough chances to deserve the victory."

"They were dangerous in the first and final 15 minutes, but we kept possession well after getting in front."

Match-winner Ronaldo also said, "I have scored an important goal, but the entire team contributed to this victory."

"The players knew how important it was to win this game and the collective mental strength of this group was decisive in the end."