A referee made such a huge error in a Champions League match between Leeds and Real Madrid he came into the dressing room to apologise afterwards. At Elland Road in 2001, the two group-toppers faced off in what was a game to decide who would go through first and second. Alan Smith got the hosts off to a good start with a goal on six minutes. But just a minute later, the La Liga giants brought the game level when striker Raul put the ball home with his hand. But despite the goal being a clear foul, referee Ryszard Wojcik did not see the incident and the goal stood. Real went on to win the game 3-2 and ended up topping the group.
Leeds, however, were furious with what happened - though a sheepish Wojcik did go in and apologise to David O’Leary's men after the match. Their match report - still active on their official site - reads: "A calamitous boob by apologetic referee Ryszard Wojcik had a major hand in United's 3-2 Champions League defeat by Real Madrid, leaving manager David O'Leary in a philosophical mood. The Polish official trooped into the Leeds dressing room after the final whistle to hold his hands up to his first -half blunder that allowed the current European champions to equalise just a minute after Alan smith had put Leeds ahead as early as the sixth minute. Raul's blatant handball was evident to all in the Bernabeu, except the one man who counted and then to make matters worse a freak bounce on a shot from Luis Figo deceived Nigel Martyn to put Real ahead shortly before half-time." The Leeds boss said: "The first goal is a handball, the second is a freak and we should have had a penalty at the end when Alan Smith got his toes stood on in the box. It takes a big man to come in and admit that he made a mistake of that magnitude. But the referee did that and he apologised for it. He said he did not see it and if he didn't see it, he couldn't give the decision." Real coach Del Bosque said: "I don't want to talk about the referee. I don't talk about referees. You will have to ask Raul.”
Source: Daily Star
