RB Leipzig was narrowly eliminated from the Champions League in the second leg of the round of 16 at Real Madrid. However, a contentious scene in the game afterwards provided something to talk about. The focus: A goalscorer for the “Royal”.
But instead of being proud of their strong performance, the Bundesliga club was frustrated and angry after the game on Wednesday evening. In the center: Real Madrid’s Vinicius Junior – and a potential assault by the Brazilian that should have resulted in a red card.
What happened? The 54th minute at the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu: Vinicius Junior fouls Leipzig’s Willi Orbán in the center circle, even though the ball is long gone. Orbán gets up straight away and wants to complain about the Brazilian. And how does he react? Attacks Orbán, grabs his neck with both hands in a sudden movement, Orbán immediately falls over again. An action that can definitely be interpreted as violence – and should actually result in a red card against Vinicius. But referee Davide Massa decides: Only yellow – there is no objection from the VAR team either, no indication that the Italian should look at the scene again.
In the 65th minute, after great preparatory work from Jude Bellingham, the Brazilian international scored the hosts’ 1-0 lead – although he was very lucky to still be on the pitch.
“Then he’ll be thrown off the pitch, one hundred percent”
The Leipzig team reacted resignedly after the game: “What can I say?” said Benjamin Henrichs on DAZN. And spoke directly to reporter Daniel Herzog: “I’ll ask you: What do you think if it had happened the other way around – one of our players would have received a red card?” The national player then answered the question himself: “I strongly assume so.”
The scene is clear: “He (Vinicius, editor’s note) hits Willi in the face after he bumps him.” Henrichs emphasized again: “I’ll say this quite honestly: If it were the other way around and one of our players attacked a Real Madrid player, then he would be thrown off the pitch, one hundred percent.” But he didn’t want to complain about the referee, Henrichs continued. And he also blamed his own team: “With the chances we had, we just have to move forward.”
Orban himself said about the scene on DAZN: “From my point of view, it’s quite clear. Clearly grab the neck, the ball was completely somewhere else. That’s why, I think, you can give it a red card.” But then struck a similar note to teammate Henrichs: “You have to say: the referees weren’t for us in both games. Nevertheless, we had huge chances, so we have to take responsibility ourselves.”