The application to the letter of football regulations has undoubtedly known its ultimate ineptitude, Sunday evening, during the La Liga match between Villarreal and Almeria (2-1). When Villarreal midfielder Alex Baena equalized with a header (1-1, 56th), he celebrated his goal by lifting his shirt, to pay tribute to the club’s vice-president, José Maria Llaneza, passed away last Thursday from leukemia.
The referee of the game, Ricardo de Burgos Bengoechea, immediately showed a second yellow card, synonymous with expulsion for Alex Baena, as usually involves lifting one’s jersey. Alex Baena then showed him the message written on his T-shirt many times (“Gracias por todo Llaneza”), the referee only reacted… by also sending off another Villarreal player, Manu Morlanes, replacing Sunday and revolted by this grotesque decision on the bench.
Despite the general anger at this unfair double expulsion, the Yellow Submarine managed the good performance of winning after additional time thanks to Nicolas Jackson (2-1, 90th + 4). An evening concluded by a nice tweet of the club where Unai Emery trains: “This jersey is worth a million expulsions”.