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Jose Mourinho was puzzled by the performance of Scottish referee Craig Thomson as Real Madrid had two men sent off late in their 4-0 Champions League win over Ajax.
Xabi Alonso and Sergio Ramos were shown their second yellow cards of the evening - both players punished for time-wasting - in the closing minutes at the Amsterdam ArenA.
They will miss the unimportant final Group G game against Auxerre but the red cards guarantee they will not be suspended for the start of the knock-out stages.
Ramos insisted Madrid had not hatched a plan to ensure both would be dismissed, and Mourinho, when asked about the red cards, said: "I spoke with many players throughout the game, not only with Ramos and Alonso.
"Stories sell, but the important thing is the 4-0 win and the fantastic game we had. Let's talk about that and not other things."
When quizzed on the subject again, the Madrid boss said: "The sendings-off came after an easy game where the referee has shown some strange yellows.
"They are cards that I don't like. It was an easy game to control. Ajax made a lot of fouls and in the first from Ramos he was shown a yellow card."
The Portuguese coach added: "The red cards we picked up don't matter hugely as we have already qualified ahead of the next game against Auxerre. If Ramos and Alonso can't play against Auxerre then there will be others, but we are not going to gift the game to the French. We want to win them all."
Madrid secured top spot in the group thanks to first-half goals from Karim Benzema and Alvaro Arbeloa, and Cristiano Ronaldo's second-half double.
AC Milan ensured they will finish second in the group thanks to a 2-0 win over Auxerre in France, secured by goals from Zlatan Ibrahimovic and substitute Ronaldinho.
Marseille cruised into the last 16 with a 3-0 victory over Spartak Moscow in Group F at the Luzhniki Stadium - their goals coming from Mathieu Valbuena, Loic Remy and Brandao. Chelsea have won the group but Marseille cannot be caught for second place.
Roma captain Francesco Totti capped a magnificent comeback with a late penalty as the Italians stunned Bayern Munich 3-2 at the Stadio Olimpico in Group E.
Trailing 2-0 at half-time after Mario Gomez's two goals, Marco Borriello hit the back of the net four minutes after the re-start before Daniele De Rossi equalised.
Totti then scored the winner from the penalty spot six minutes from the end, and Roma are three points clear of third-placed Basle, who play group winners Bayern in their final match.
Frederico Almerares scored to earn Basle a 1-0 win over bottom club Cluj.
In Group H, Shakhtar Donetsk scored second-half goals through Taras Stepanenko, Jadson and Eduardo to brush aside Partizan Belgrade 3-0 and virtually assure progression from Group H, from which Arsenal and Braga are also vying to advance.
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