Champions League exit
Leipziger angry at referee: “It’s a red card”
Leipzig’s coach Marco Rose (r) was not satisfied with the referees’ performance. photo
© Manu Fernandez/AP/dpa
The bitter premier class exit at Real Madrid is causing a lot of frustration at RB Leipzig. As in the first leg, the focus is on the referee. Only the captain appears calm afterwards.
Willi Orban gave up after the night of frustration Madrid diplomatically. “It’s a red card. But referees are also allowed to make mistakes, that’s part of our sport,” said the RB Leipzig captain after the Champions League exit.
Not everyone in Leipzig dealt with the scene in the 54th minute as calmly as the defense chief, when Real star Vinicius Junior first fouled Orban and then sent him to the ground with a shove to the neck.
Coach Marco Rose raised his finger and complained to the Italian referee, while national player Benjamin Henrichs found clear words: “That was an act of violence, he has to be shown a red card for that.” But the referee Davide Massa left the Brazilian attacker with a yellow card, who scored a flattering lead ten minutes later. Orban’s equalizer was ultimately one goal too few for Leipzig in this round of 16 second leg.
No reaction from VAR
As in the first leg when Leipzig’s goal was missed, the video assistant did not intervene to help. “I wonder where the video evidence is because he has to explain it to him,” emphasized Henrichs. “Then it’s obviously bitter that Vinicius scores the goal even though he’s actually no longer allowed to be on the pitch.”
Teammate David Raum also complained about the behavior of the Italian referee apart from the controversial decision. “I wouldn’t say strange, but the way he talked to me and my teammates was a bit grim. He’s certainly a good referee, but we’re also nice and cool guys. He can be normal talk to us,” said Raum, surprised. The Madrid players were “addressed a little more politely.”
Praise from the opponent
The outstanding Toni Kroos was relieved to progress – and praised his opponent. “Leipzig did well, defended very, very well,” said the national team returnee. Real’s second half was “a bit better”, “but not so much that you could say that we deserved to go further.”
Kroos did not comment on the red debate surrounding Vinicius Junior. His coach Carlo Ancelotti took care of that. “He pushed too hard. I didn’t see a red card,” said the Italian. There is currently a stir surrounding Ancelotti himself; he is being investigated for tax fraud. The former Bayern coach was emphatic: “I hope that this will be resolved soon. I can sleep peacefully.”
His Leipzig counterpart Marco Rose usually sleeps well before and after games anyway. But he will probably still nibble a little about the narrowly missed advance. Real were “on the hook” to some extent, Rose said. Henrichs said that after a few days we would see “what we have achieved here in this stadium, with the greatest team in the world.”
But in the end, 21 shots on goal only resulted in one goal, with Madrid barely getting half of their goal. And that’s where Orban started. “I could have defended better when we conceded a goal and we should have scored more than one goal,” said the Hungarian international. Orban started his return journey with the trophy as “Player of the Match”. It was at most a consolation prize after his 300th competitive game for Leipzig.