The football world was left incredulous and Villarreal players were seething after Adrien Rabiot was allowed to play on following his horror Champions League challenge in Spain this morning (AEDT).
The Juventus midfielder planted his studs into Samuel Chukwueze’s knee in the 73rd minute of the 1-1 round of 16 first leg draw at El Madrigal.
Chukwueze was in agony and his teammates were rightfully livid yet French international Rabiot copped only a yellow card.
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“These are the type of tackles that can basically ruin your career, injure you really badly. That’s just ridiculous,” former Manchester United goalkeeper Mark Bosnich said on Stan Sport’s post-game show.
“That’s just shocking, almost as bad as it gets,” added former Socceroos captain Craig Foster, taking aim at both German referee Daniel Siebert and a lack of VAR intervention.
“How he’s not reviewed that decision and sent him off, I have no idea. You shouldn’t even need the booth.
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“He’s given him a yellow card, you’re close enough, you’ve actually seen the incident, he’s not far away. There’s no way that can’t be a red.
“He’s actually stepped over the ball which is already dangerous play and he’s hit his knee with his studs.
“If you’re going to pull a card it can only be a red card, so it’s just a bad mistake.”
European football expert Nicky Bandini agreed but added that Rabiot staying on the pitch may have actually hurt Juventus as they pressed for an away winner.
“This is unfathomable to me, that’s such an obvious studs up red card,” Bandini said on Stan Sport.
“Adrien Rabiot shouldn’t have been on the pitch. A lot of Juventus supporters probably wish he wasn’t on the pitch because he was dreadful tonight.
“This is a horrible challenge and the more times you see it the worse it looks, frankly. I don’t understand how anyone in the booth couldn’t look at that and immediately say ‘listen, he has to go.’ It’s a really dangerous challenge.”
Neither side scored after the flashpoint.
Dusan Vlahovic had a dream Champions League debut for Juventus with a classy strike in the first minute before Dani Parejo leveled for Villarreal in the 66th.
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