Real Madrid coach Arbeloa slams referee's 'inexplicable' decision to send off Camavinga

MUNICH (AP) — Real Madrid coach Álvaro Arbeloa slammed referee Slavko Vinčić’s “inexplicable” decision to send off Eduardo Camavinga toward the end of Bayern Munich’s 4-3 win in the Champions League on Wednesday.

Vinčić blew the whistle for a foul after Bayern forward Harry Kane went down under minimal contact from Camavinga and clutched his shin as if in pain. Vinčić then showed the Madrid substitute his second yellow card, but appeared to forget that he’d booked him already. He was reminded by Bayern players including Jamal Musiala, Joshua Kimmich, and Aleksandar Pavlovic, and subsequently sent the player off.

Luis Díaz scored three minutes later to equalize at 3-3 on the night, putting Bayern 5-4 up on aggregate, before Michael Olise made sure of the win in stoppage time, giving Bayern a 6-4 win over two legs.

“Everything was over with the red card,” Arbeloa said. “It’s unbelievable. You cannot send off a player for this action. It’s not fair in a match like that, and well, we are very, very upset, very angry, but also congratulations to Bayern Munich.”

Arda Guler scored twice and Kylian Mbappe scored the other as Madrid threatened a comeback after losing the first leg of the quarterfinal 2-1 in Madrid last week.

Arbeloa said the sending off was “completely inexplicable and unfair.”

“The tie slipped away from us in a way that was beyond our control, and I feel terrible for my players, for the effort they put in,” he said.

“I’m very proud of them, of the fans, of everyone who traveled, of those at home, and of the club. What hurts most about this defeat is that we won’t win the sixteenth (European title) this year, and – above all – because of the way it happened.”

Madrid faces the prospect of a second consecutive season without a trophy as it trails Barcelona by nine points in La Liga with seven rounds remaining and was knocked out of the Spanish Cup by second-division side Albacete Balompié in January.

It will most likely be the second season Mbappé finishes without a major trophy since joining Madrid from Paris Saint-Germain in 2024.

PSG won the Champions League the next season and is back in the semifinals – where it faces Bayern – later this month and May.

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