Arda Güler put Real Madrid on course for victory against Sevilla FC with his second goal of the season. But should the Turkish player even have been allowed to remain on the pitch at that stage?
Following their home win over Sevilla, the Royals remain six points behind leaders FC Barcelona. Had Real suffered a third defeat, the gap would have been a whopping nine points just ahead of the Clásico (Sunday, 9 pm). “Perhaps” a reason why Arda Güler got away without a red card, speculated Sevilla manager Luis Garcia Plaza.
What had happened? In the 23rd minute, even before he went on to score the opening goal seven minutes later with a stunning strike, the Turkish player had swung his elbow backwards in a running duel with opponent Peque. Sevilla’s number 10 subsequently went down, clutching his face, and had to receive brief medical attention. Arda Güler, however, got away without even a booking; instead, Dean Huijsen and Felix were each shown a yellow card for subsequent incidents.
“4–1: An elbow and that was it,” read the headline on FC Sevilla’s website. “A picture is worth a thousand words,” wrote the Andalusians, who also complained about an alleged foul by Ibrahima Konaté on Robbie Ure in the build-up to Kylian Mbappé’s second goal: “In this case, a picture isn’t worth a thousand words,” as a replay of the incident had not been shown in the TV broadcast.
The away manager, too, could not understand why referee Mateo Busquets Ferrer had not reviewed the incidents again: “It’s a completely different game that has to be played from the moment of the elbow strike. They may be better in an eleven-a-side game, but we were denied the chance to play a different game,” explained Garcia Plaza, who described Arda Güler’s challenge as a “crystal-clear red card”.
In his view, the unpunished foul on striker Ure – which led to Real scoring their second goal – was also “crystal clear”. “The referee wasn’t having a good day,” concluded Garcia Plaza.
Mourinho had “not seen a single image”
On the other side, José Mourinho – who had himself recently been upset by numerous refereeing decisions – “did not understand the obsession with so many questions about this incident”. The Real Madrid manager therefore did not wish to comment further on his counterpart’s remarks: “Nobody could show me what was supposedly supposed to have happened. I haven’t seen a single image. I asked my analysts and the TV broadcasters for footage, but I couldn’t see any of the incidents people are talking about and which bothered Luis.”
In any case, it is “the natural course of things that the opposite will happen to us more often”, Mourinho explained. However, “if one day something happens that I think has worked in our favour”, he will “have no problem admitting it”.
