It’s difficult for him to speak his mind, but there’s nothing stopping her.
Carlo Ancelotti was his usual diplomatic self after Bayern Munich were unceremoniously dumped out of this year’s Champions League competition at the hands of Real Madrid this week.
Bayern midfielder Arturo Vidal was harshly sent off for two bookable offences, while Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo scored in extra time from an offside position as the Spanish holders won 6-3 on aggregate.
So as not to get into too much trouble with UEFA, the Italian manager was clearly annoyed but measured when he said: “We had thought of everything going into this game – except the referee. You can’t decide a semi-final spot like this. It shouldn’t happen at this level.”
But his wife Mariann Barrena was far more forthright in her criticism, and vented her annoyance via her private Instagram account. The Canadian entrepreneur wrote:
‘Me gusta. As it is now unanimous, I too will speak the truth! The refereeing during last night’s game was a disgrace. This should not happen at this level of this beautiful game. We deserved much more……It is time to bring in video technology, so that this game goes down in history as an example of what should never happen again.’
Barrena, MBA, PhD, works in business.
She is a consultant at Barclays Bank, Data Miners and Elsworthy Capital in London, where in 2011 she met Ancelotti, who was working with Chelsea at the time.