Catch-up game
Assault against Leroy Sané: Union coach Bjelica sees a red card
Union Berlin coach Nenad Bjelica shortly before kick-off in Munich. In the 74th minute, the coach saw a red card after an attack.
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In the catch-up game in the Bundesliga between Bayern Munich and Union Berlin, nerves were on edge in the second half: Berlin coach Nenad Bjelica got carried away with two fights against Leroy Sané.
With the score 1-0 for Munich, the ball rolled out of bounds to Bjelica in the 74th minute. After Union’s coach didn’t want to give it to Sané, there was a verbal argument between the two, during which Bjelica pressed her hand in Sané’s face. After another brief exchange of words, Bjelica pressed her hand into Sané’s face again before referee Frank Willenborg pulled out a red card against the coach – Sané was given a yellow card for the action. Shortly before the incident, Bjelica was upset about an avoidable foul by Bayern’s Konrad Laimer on striker Kevin Behrens in the Munich penalty area.
Bundesliga: Nenad Bjelica is reminiscent of Norbert Meier
Bjelica didn’t calm down afterwards either: on the way to the stands he got into a fight with the home fans and was taken to the press box by stewards. Bjelica, who only succeeded Urs Fischer at Köpenicker at the end of November, is now expecting a ban. Despite the incident, Bayern won the catch-up game 1-0 and reduced the gap to league leaders Leverkusen to four points – but were by no means convincing.
The scene was reminiscent of a cult scene from the 2005/2006 season. At that time, Duisburg coach Norbert Meier and Cologne playmaker Albert Streit – also in a catch-up game – clashed on the touchline shortly before the final whistle. After a brief exchange of words, Meier started to butt the head and then let himself fall theatrically. With success: Streit was sent off at the time. However, there were also consequences for Norbert Meier: The DFB subsequently banned Meier for three months and imposed a fine. MSV Duisburg also drew conclusions from the incident and separated from its coach.