Coach Roger Schmidt is threatened with a ban in Portugal after a scandal: the German coach of Portuguese record champions Benfica Lisbon was sent off in the 2-0 win at FC Vizela because he threw a plastic water bottle back into the crowd.
The bottle had flown from the stands behind the Benfica bench onto the field just before the final whistle and almost hit Schmidt in the head, who was just celebrating the decisive goal to make it 2-0.
Red card at most a bitter aftertaste
Now Schmidt has to wait for the extent of the lock. But he will be able to cope with that, because the weekend was otherwise very positive for him and for Benfica. Thanks to their own victory and the completely surprising 2-1 defeat of pursuers FC Porto on Sunday at home to Gil Vicente, the “Adler” were able to extend the gap to the defending champions and arch-rivals to eight points after 22 of a total of 34 games.
“Yes, I reacted a bit to the provocations of the fans behind me. And that’s not allowed, so I accept the red card. That’s all,” the 55-year-old explained to journalists after the league match late Saturday evening.
After throwing the bottle, the former coach of Bayer Leverkusen and PSV Eindhoven also discussed things with the rowdy fans of the home team. After the red card, he “bid farewell” to the Vizela supporters by showing the end result with both hands on the way to the dressing room. He held up two fingers on one hand and indicated a zero with the other.