Union Berlin coach Nenad Bjelica was shown a red card in the second half of the game against FC Bayern Munich on Wednesday evening after a scuffle with Leroy Sané. However, the 52-year-old Croatian did not disappear into the dressing room afterwards. After the game he showed understanding, but did not want to apologize to Sané.
When the score was 1-0 for Bayern, Sané wanted to throw in in front of the visitors’ bench and went to the opposing coach, who had picked up the ball. At first, the Bayern player just held out his open hands, but then reached for the ball. Bjelica, in turn, pulled the ball away, threw the ball over his shoulder and then gave Sané a swipe in the face with his right hand.
As the fourth official was about to intervene, the angry Sané approached Bjelica again and pushed him slightly. Before the two brawlers could be separated, the Union coach grabbed Sané again in the face to push him away. A pack formed before the scene could be broken up.
Referee Frank Willenborg showed Bjelica a red card for the action. He then left the interior, A short time later, he reappeared in the press box to watch the rest of the game.
The coach had been so enraged by a scene shortly before: In one of the few counterattacks, Union could have gotten a penalty when Bayern’s Konrad Laimer brought down Kevin Behrens in the penalty area.
Nenad Bjelica: “I don’t apologize to Sané”
After the game, Bjelica showed insight on Sky. “It’s not okay, what I did can’t be tolerated. I understand the red card,” he explained. He was “a little nervous about the penalty scene.” The penalty could have been given “definitely,” he said after seeing the pictures. But: “Of course it’s not easy to give a penalty like that in front of 75,000 spectators in the stadium in a 1-0 win against Bayern.”
Bjelica said he apologized to his team, but “not to Sané. He comes into my room to provoke me. Of course I don’t react the way I should react.” Sané “pushed him in my room, then of course I reacted.”
Kevin Vogt from the Iron Men said: “He wants to give him the ball. The ball ticks away, then he wants to pick it up and then… Again: I don’t want to sugarcoat anything – but it’s also well provoked, I have to say. That doesn’t excuse it.”
Thomas Tuchel simply explained: “It’s difficult to defend him. I don’t need to add fuel to the fire now, but clearly: not good.”
2024-01-24 22:14:00
#dont #apologize
