Bayern Munich sporting director Max Eberl has dismissed Real Madrid’s fury over Eduardo Camavinga’s controversial red card, insisting the Frenchman had only himself to blame for being sent off in Wednesday’s Champions League classic.
The flashpoint came with Madrid leading 3-2 on the night and level on aggregate. Camavinga, already on a yellow, fouled Harry Kane and then booted the ball away to stop Bayern taking a quick free kick.
Referee Slavko Vincic initially signalled for a standard caution. Then he realised. Second yellow. Red card. Chaos.
Madrid lost their heads. Then they lost the tie.
‘He should just leave and walk away!’
Eberl, unsurprisingly, saw nothing wrong with the decision.
“If he wasn’t aware of that [that Camavinga had already been booked], then it was a straight yellow card, because that’s what he intended to give,” the Bayern chief told DAZN.
“If he hadn’t given it because he thought he’d already been booked… But as it was: a straight yellow card.”
Then came the killer line.
“He’d already handled the ball twice before,” Eberl added. “Just leave it and walk away!”
It is hard to argue with that. Camavinga’s actions were petulant. Unnecessary. And ultimately, season defining.
Khedira: ‘Unacceptable’
Not everyone agreed. DAZN expert Sami Khedira, a World Cup winner with Germany, was scathing.
“It is unacceptable for a referee to influence this match in such a way and potentially decide its outcome,” Khedira said.
His point? Vincic had momentarily forgotten Camavinga was already booked. The red card was technically correct, but the process felt clumsy. The referee’s awareness or lack of it became the story.
Madrid manager Alvaro Arbeloa went further.
“The referee ruined the game,” he fumed. “It’s an action that nobody understands. How can you send a player off for something like that in a match like this? Completely inexplicable, unfair. It hurts us deeply!”
Madrid benefited too, let’s be honest
Before the outrage, let us remember the context.
Madrid’s first goal came from a free kick awarded for minimal contact by Konrad Laimer on Brahim Diaz. The Austrian barely touched him. The call was soft.
Their third goal, scored just before half time, was preceded by a challenge from Antonio Rudiger on Josip Stanisic that many felt should have been a foul. Stanisic certainly thought so.
“He sees me coming and just runs straight into me,” Stanisic argued. “In the past, the referee would have let play continue and awarded a free kick only if we lost the ball. Maybe the referee forgot that rule there, I don’t know.”
Bayern boss Vincent Kompany was booked for protesting. He will now miss the semi final first leg against Paris Saint Germain.
The point? Decisions went both ways. Madrid only noticed the ones that went against them.
What now for Arbeloa?
The defeat leaves Madrid with nothing to play for. Out of the Champions League. Nine points behind Barcelona in La Liga with seven games left. Knocked out of the Copa del Rey by second tier Albacete.
Arbeloa is under serious pressure. The Athletic reports he could leave by summer. French national coach Didier Deschamps set to step down after the World Cup has been linked as a possible successor.
Eberl, meanwhile, is planning for the semi finals. No sympathy. No regrets. Just a simple message for Camavinga:
Just leave it and walk away.
