Real Madrid coach Alvaro Arbeloa said the decision to send off Eduardo Camavinga “ruined” Wednesday’s Champions League quarter-final after his team were eliminated by Bayern Munich.
Substitute Camavinga picked up two yellow cards in quick succession to be dismissed with four minutes remaining of the quarter-final second leg.
The tie was level when Camavinga was shown red but Bayern scored twice late to win 4-3 on the night, 6-4 on aggregate, and book a clash with holders Paris Saint-Germain in the semi-finals.
The Frenchman’s second yellow appeared to be shown for delaying the restart after he had fouled Harry Kane.
“It’s unbelievable that you can send off a player for this action in a match like this,” Arbeloa told TNT Sports.
“We feel really upset, really angry, really disappointing. This felt like a defining game in our season.”
Speaking with Movistar, Arbeloa said the referee “ruined” the match by sending off Camavinga, claiming the official did not know he was already on a yellow.
“I think the referee didn’t even know he had a booking, and so that’s why he did it, but he’s ruined a knockout tie, a match that I think was really beautiful, that was flying, that was at a fantastic level, and that’s where the game ended.”
Walking past reporters after the match, Real midfielder Jude Bellingham said the decision was “a joke”, while Antonio Rudiger said “you saw the situations yourself — it’s better not to speak”.
Luis Diaz, who scored shortly afterwards to put Bayern ahead on aggregate, backed the referee’s decision, saying Camavinga had prevented the hosts from launching an attack by holding onto the ball.
“I think the referee was right to send him off. We wanted to take the free-kick quickly and he didn’t release the ball,” Diaz told reporters.
The defeat leaves Real Madrid set to finish a second straight season without a major trophy, with Arbeloa’s side nine points behind leaders Barcelona with seven games to play in La Liga.