An unhappy Pep Guardiola complained to the referee for sending off Bastian Schweinsteiger in Bayern Munich’s draw with Manchester United, with the coach intimating that Wayne Rooney had dived to get the midfielder a second yellow card.
The incident occurred in the 90th minute of the 1-1 Champions League quarter-final first leg, after Schweingsteiger tackled Rooney. The German was seen twice complaining to the United forward after Carlos Velasco Carballo showed him the red card, and Guardiola appeared to make a diving motion with his right hand.
The Spaniard declined to accuse Rooney after the match but he did not hide his dismay at the sending-off. “I spoke with the referee,” he said. “He’s a very good referee. He made a very, very good game but it’s unfair [this red card]. But it’s OK. If you want to win the Champions League you have to solve and overcome everything during the competition. I gave my opinion to the referee, that’s all.”
Guardiola agreed that he did not think Schweinsteiger, who will now miss the return leg next Wednesday at the Allianz Arena, should have been sent off. “Absolutely not,” he said.
For his part the United manager, David Moyes, said: “I think Schweinsteiger trips Wayne up. It’s a booking or at least a foul.”
United took the lead with Nemanja Vidic’s 58th-minute header before Schweinsteiger equalised eight minutes later, but Moyes’ side subdued the Champions League holders to keep the tie alive. A visibly upset Guardiola, though, denied he was disappointed with his team’s display.
“No, absolutely not,” he said. “People see what happened in the Premier League, in the Bundesliga: ‘They [United] are not in a good position and this tie is for Bayern.’ But Manchester United have won four or five Champions Leagues [three, in fact], they are one of the best and have top players. They have a lot of experience,we knew that and today we knew they’d make a very good performance. We controlled the game, we created 15 chances – that’s quite good but it’s not easy when they have nine players in the box.” Pressed if he thought United had been negative, Guardiola said: “No. I didn’t say that.”
Moyes praised his team’s display. “I’m happy with the performance, a bit disappointed with the result in the end. There was a real determination tonight to make sure that we did well. It’s a competition we’ve got a really good history in and I think the players now realise we’ve played a really good side. I believe they had a fight on their hands before the first leg. Tonight shows that we’ll be there, we’ll go toe to toe with them and try and come out on top.
“It’s a tough game but our best football has come in this competition and we’ll try and show it next week. We know that we have to score a goal. If the score stays the same then Bayern go through so we have to do something about it. We’ve given ourselves a great opportunity. We’ll take a lot from it.
“They had possession but we always knew that was going to be the case. Coming into the tie most people had Bayern as favourites and rightly so, they’re European champions. This club is used to big nights and I think they showed it again on and off the field.
“We need to go there and attempt to win the game. Other sides have gone there and done that and we’ll need to do the same. Tonight’s performance is more what you would hope for. We’ll try and take that into the game next week.”
The Guardian.
Trending
- Sanwo-Olu: We’ve fulfilled our promises
- Upholding Democracy: The imperative of credible party primaries in Nigeria, by Adebanji Dada
- FG revokes 924 dormant mining licences as minister decries racketeering
- Why I didn’t build schools as Anambra governor, Peter Obi replies Omokri
- Establish base in Sambisa forest, Zulum tells Army
- EFCC withdraws appeal against former Kogi Governor Bello
- Fidelity Bank commends Air Peace’s performance
- How AI, automation, and trusted data are shaping next-generation customer service, by Linda Saunders