Real Madrid manager Alvaro Arbeloa was left incensed over a red card shown to Eduardo Camavinga in the late stages of the Champions League quarter-final tie against Bayern Munich.
A thrilling first half saw five goals shared by both teams as Real took a 3-2 lead into the break at the Allianz Arena and had cut the one-goal deficit from the first leg.
The aggregate score was level at 3-3 when Camavinga was shown a second yellow card for time-wasting following a tackle he made on Bayern striker Harry Kane. Following the adjudged foul, Camavinga picked up the ball and threw it away forcing the referee to book him. It was the midfielder’s second offence in the match and sent Real down to 10-men.
Bayern subsequently scored two more goals to win 4-3 on the night and 6-4 on aggregate as the Spanish side were eliminated from the competition.
Arbeloa reacted negatively after the final whistle and, despite calling the clash a ‘great match’ he believed the decision to award a red card to Camavinga was decisive and ‘unfair’. To make matters worse, Arda Guler was also shown a red card in the aftermath of the final whistle.
“That was a great match, this second leg,” Arbeloa told TNT Sports.
“We put players like [Eder] Militao, [Jude] Bellingham, [Ferland] Mendy that couldn’t play the first leg, and we did a great match here. We scored three goals, had chances to score more, but with the red card everything was over.
“It’s unbelievable to send off a player for this action. It’s not possible in a player like that, match like that. We feel really upset, really angry, really disappointed. We feel all of this is a bit unfair.”
Former Real winger Steve McManaman claimed that Real’s gameplan was ‘excellent’ but they were hurt by moments in the clash in Munich.
McManaman said: “Real Madrid are going to finish without a trophy again this season. History has always suggested that they will change the manager when that happens.
“You feel for Arbeloa – his game plan was excellent, but a couple of moments cost Real Madrid.”
Meanwhile, Bayern Munich winger Michael Olise believes that the result would have been the same in spite of the red card and said: “The red card was late. We had built momentum before that, the game was going our way. Maybe it helped a bit but the game was still going how it was going.”
Kane added: “There were decisions that went against us the whole game and the rules are the rules. It was a clear yellow card, I’ve had a couple of those in my career that have affected me. The referee has to make a decision there and it went our way today.”
Bayern Munich will now face Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League semi-finals with the first leg taking place at the end of April.
