The FC Bayern footballers didn’t really have much to complain about.
“We would have signed that, yes,” said director Bianca Rech with a smile after the hard-fought 1-1 (0-1) in the first leg of the Champions League semi-final against FC Barcelona. And yet the Munich team was left with a bad aftertaste before the second leg next Sunday (4.30 p.m.) at the Camp Nou.
“The referee lost control,” complained Rech: “I don’t know how many cards she handed out like Smarties in the end.” Bayern were particularly upset by the red cards against Franziska Kett, who had pulled Salma Paralluelo’s hair, and coach José Barcala, who was sent off by Croatian Ivana Martincic for complaining.
“I was just screaming,” the Spaniard explained the situation from his perspective in the 79th minute: “I understand if I get yellow for that, but never red. That’s totally unfair.” Just like the sending off for Kett, according to Barcala. The goalscorer (69′) “never had the intention of pulling your hair,” the coach asserted: “That needs to be discussed. It’s so easy to get your hair without any intention.”
FC Bayern’s triple dream is alive
Perhaps, said national player Klara Bühl on Disney+, “a rule” is needed for such situations: “We can have long hair, but in this case it just gets in the way.” Memories of Kathrin Hendrich quickly came back, who had also seen red in a similar situation in the German national team’s European Championship quarter-final against France last summer. Hendrich also always claimed that he had not acted consciously.
There is “a difference,” emphasized Rech, “when you pull a player’s hair on the top of her head and when you reach for the jersey at the bottom.” Either way, Bayern will have to make do in Barcelona without Kett and Barcala. It was “very bitter to lose two important people on our team in such a situation,” said Giulia Gwinn.
Bayern are still fully motivated and the dream of a treble is alive. Barcala said he was “very proud” of his team, especially given the 7-1 humiliation against Barcelona in the league phase. Gwinn emphasized that they now have “nothing to lose”: “There is still one step to the final, where we will invest everything we have.”
