Van Persie still angry at Champions League exit

Robin van Persie has expressed his anger at the manner of Manchester United's Champions League exit at the hands of Real Madrid earlier this month.

United went down 3-2 on aggregate against the Spanish champions in their last-16 tie, but looked to be in control in the second leg at Old Trafford before referee Cuneyt Cakir's controversial decision to send off Nani after 56 minutes.

The Portuguese winger was shown red after a high tackle on Alvaro Arbeloa with the aggregate score at 2-1 to United, a decision that proved to be the turning point as Madrid scored twice to set up a quarter-final showdown against Galatasaray next month.

Despite the fact that over two weeks have passed since the game Van Persie is still dismayed by Manchester United's exit, and says he felt his side would have progressed had Nani not been sent off.

He told Algemeen Dagblad: "Nani could not help it, he hardly touched Álvaro Arbeloa. For an hour everything was good, the tactics right. We really had the feeling that we were going to score the second goal and then it would become very difficult for Real Madrid.

"But when the referee pulled out the red card ..."

In the aftermath of the game, UEFA supported Cakir's decision to send Nani off despite widespread criticism of the decision - something which also angers the Dutchman.

"The worst thing is that UEFA supports him," he continued. 

"I think that is cowardly, because I do not understand it. Why not say honestly: 'He has not seen it?