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Sat 23 May

‘The Referee Ruined the Game’: Arbeloa Reacts to Real Madrid Vs. Bayern Munich Classic

Tom SandersonTom Sanderson
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At a glance

  • Real Madrid put up a valiant effort by losing 4-3 on the night and 6-4 on aggregate in a classic Champions League quarterfinal second leg tie against Bayern Munich.
  • Eduardo Camavinga received a red card in the closing minutes, which paved the way for Luis Diaz and Michael Olise to put the Bavarians ahead.
  • Post-match, Madrid coach Alvaro Arbeloa directed his disappointment at the match official.

Real Madrid head coach Alvaro Arbeloa accused referee Slavko Vincic of ruining a classic Champions League quarterfinal second leg tie against Bayern Munich.

Los Blancos went 1-0 ahead early after a Manuel Neuer error allowed Arda Guler to fire into an empty net with just 35 seconds down on the clock.

There were further goals from Aleksandar Pavlovic, Guler, Harry Kane and Kylian Mbappe in that order. This made it 3-2 on the night in Madrid’s favour, and 4-4 on aggregate.

But just as it appeared like we were set for extra time, Eduardo Camavinga received a soft second yellow card paving the way for strikes from Luis Diaz and Michael Olise.

Speaking to Movistar, Arbeloa was clearly angered by Vincic’s actions. “It’s obvious, you can’t send off a player for something like that. The referee didn’t even know he had a card. And a very nice knockout tie that was very even was ruined and that’s the end of the game”.

Arbeloa enjoyed the match, even though it could be his last in the Champions League as Real Madrid manager

Arbeloa said that the all-time classic was “a great game for my players”.

“I’m sorry for them, for the effort they’ve made. For the Madridistas who have come and those who’ve seen it at home. It hurts me because Madrid are not going to win the sixteenth this year. But we return to Madrid with our honour because they’ve given everything”.

Asked about having chances to win the tie, with Vinicius Jr. missing from close range, Arbeloa accepted this.

“We had some tired players. But we were going to make changes just before the [Diaz] goal and with that it was over,” he claimed.

Though Madrid trail bitter rival FC Barcelona by nine points at the top, an Arbeloa that will probably be fired at the end of the term demanded: “Let’s keep going.”

“This is Real Madrid. The league is very complicated. But even the day it ends we will have to keep fighting until the end. We have a shield to defend,” Arbeloa concluded.

matchday.

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Tom Sanderson is a senior football correspondent that has lived in Spain for almost seven years, for the duration of which he has been Forbes' lead expert writer on Real Madrid and FC Barcelona providing news, analysis and features. He's currently in his eighth season covering the clubs which also includes attending matches home and away, press events and conferences, and training sessions amid appearing in a BBC Sport documentary on El Clasico. Before that, he lived in São Paulo for six years where he became, and still is, The Guardian's lead reporter on Brazilian football and social issues. Other notable work includes being appointed Daily Mail's first-ever Spanish language content editor in its sports department.

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