Erling Haaland left fuming as referee slap in Real Madrid clash angers Man City stars
The half-time incident saw a referee make contact with Erling Haaland as Manchester City drew with Real Madrid.
Manchester City and Erling Haaland were left furious after referee Francois Letexier accidentally slapped the striker in the face as they exited the pitch at half-time of Tuesday’s Champions League tie. The Norwegian was not on target in the Bernabeu as Pep Guardiola’s outfit drew 3-3 with Real Madrid in a European thriller, but found himself at the centre of drama alongside the match official.
The striker was far from happy as he walked off the pitch down 2-1 after deflected efforts from Eduardo Camavinga and Rodrygo cancelled out Bernardo Silva’s opener.
He was making his way towards the tunnel with referee Letexier after an opening 45 minutes with few touches of the ball, but the official ended up accidentally hitting Haaland with the back of his hand.
The referee was signalling in Haaland’s direction was unaware of the incoming striker and caught him in the face, with City sure to make Letexier aware of their disapproval.
He was quickly surrounded by several of Haaland’s team-mates before immediately apologising to Haaland and informing the 23-year-old that he was gesturing to Real Madrid’s Dani Carvajal.
But Haaland was uninterested in the referee saying sorry and threw his arms up in protest, though the incident did not go any further and they amicably left the pitch.
Haaland emerged for the second half seemingly unscathed after the incident with Letexier, but was unable to get into the game thanks to superb marking by Antonio Rudiger and Aurelien Tchouameni.
Instead, the buck was passed to his team-mates and they duly stepped up, with Phil Foden equalising in the second half with a superb curling effort from distance.
Josko Gvardiol stepped up minutes later and matched Phil Foden with another long-range strike, his first for the club, but Federico Valverde similarly drew the hosts level again with another wonder-strike from the edge of the box, setting up another blockbuster in six days.
Man City cruel victims of UEFA rule change after Real Madrid let off the hook
COLUMN: Man City will feel hard done by after drawing with Real Madrid
Man City held Real Madrid to a 3-3 draw on Tuesday night with a reply coming up next week.
Manchester City will feel hard done by after going for the jugular against Real Madrid. Scoring three goals away from home should be rewarded more than it is. Instead, they head back to the Etihad with the same clout as they would a goalless draw.
Away goal rules in the Champions League added an exciting dimension to the knockout rounds and encouraged teams not to shut up shop on the road.
UEFA abolished that in 2021 claiming the ‘lines are blurred between playing at home and away’.
How can they say home teams don’t have an advantage anymore? Have they ever visited Anfield on a European night?
Real Madrid requested special permission to close the Bernabeu roof for their clash with City.
They wouldn’t have done that if they didn’t feel it would give them the upper hand.
Real have every right to park the bus and try to catch City on the counterattack during the second leg following the 3-3 at home.
It may make for a more open tie if the La Liga side were under greater pressure to avoid a stalemate.
Even Harry Kane acknowledged the advantage of having fans backing the team after Bayern supporters were banned from the Emirates Stadium.
It was hard with no fans, strange to have no-one there for us,” he said.
And they would definitely have celebrated the 2-2 draw like a win if away goals counted for something.
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