Real Madrid vs. Bayern Munich: How a Referee Can Ruin a Fantastic Tie
By Ben Sundock
Casemiro’s Foul on Robben and Vidal’s Foul on Asensio (Second Leg)
Probably the biggest talking point of the second leg comes from the decision to
not
send Casemiro off with a second yellow after a tough challenge on Arjen Robben, but to send Arturo Vidal off with a second yellow after a challenge on Marco Asensio late in the second half.
It’s clear in the above clip, from Casemiro’s arrant left foot in the 40th minute on Ribéry, that drew the first yellow card, was a good call from the head official.
Vidal, who picked up his yellow card and warning in just the fourth minute, was also deserving of discipline.
Vidal and Casemiro were both the recipients of several fouls throughout the course of the match, receiving talks from the ref on multiple occasions, and the two had a run in just after the start of the second half.
Casemiro was also the Real player to foul Arjen Robben in the box, drawing a foul and a penalty kick which Robert Lewandowski finished to put Bayern up 1-0.
The challenge that should’ve drawn Casemiro a yellow, yet somehow didn’t, came in the 80th minute on Robben just outside the box. The video shows pretty clear evidence of a harsh cleat from the Brazilian midfielder, landing straight on Robben’s ankle.
According to the Squawka investigation on the play, “This is where Bayern have every right to feel aggrieved. When you take into account what happened later in the game when a Bayern player was sent off (Vidal second yellow card), Casemiro somehow remained on the field when he nailed Robben in the 80th minute.”
"“The Brazilian goes in late on the Bayern winger and Kassai really should have been directing the Real Madrid star down the tunnel.”"
And it’s clear from watching the “foul” on Vidal that his challenge on the young Asensio was far less harmful than the above Casemiro challenge.
I agree with the Squawka team and referees who evaluated the play post match, the wrong discipline was applied to the wrong player in this scenario. Should Vidal have gone in after playing so recklessly all match in a crucial moment? No, of course not.
But, in his defense, he had to make a good tackle, and did make a good tackle, seemingly winning the ball from Asensio.
Shockingly, this wasn’t the most controversial call of the match.