Bayern Munich head coach Pep Guardiola was left feeling aggrieved following the late dismissal of Bastian Schweinsteiger in the 1-1 draw with Manchester United at Old Trafford in the first leg of their Champions League quarter final. The midfielder was shown a second yellow card late in the game after a mistimed challenged on Wayne Rooney, although Schweinsteiger was adamant the England striker had made the most of the challenge – a view shared by Guardiola.
It was a mixed night for Schweinsteiger in Manchester. After Nemanja Vidic’s header had put David Moyes’ men ahead just before the hour mark, the Germany international levelled things up with a cracking finish 10 minutes later, but his night ended early after picking up his second yellow of the night for his challenge on Rooney.
Video- Was Schweini’s red card deserved, or did Rooney influence the ref?
The video above shows multiple angles of the challenge, and while it does look that Schweinsteiger got the challenge right, the way he lunged, and Rooney’s subsequent fall, influenced the ref to send him off.
Bayern were also not happy with the Sun and the Mirror’s reporting of events, and have chosen to ban their reporters from the second leg in Munich.
The Sun carried the headlines “You Schwein” and the Mirror used “You Dirty Schwein”. Bayern didn’t take the puns too kindly and has retaliated for what it calls “disrespectful, discriminatory and personally abusive manner of reporting”
Despite Bayern beginning the match as favourites with Betfair, the German giants didn’t have everything their own way, but Guardiola was left pleased with how his side had performed and the crucial away goal they managed to come away with.
In any other era, a 1-1 away draw at Manchester United for Bayern would be seen as being as good as a win, but such is the low level of expectation at Old Trafford and the aura surrounding Guardiola’s side that many felt shocked by the result.
United were widely derided for their defensive display in front of their home fans, although manager David Moyes was adamant after the game that he had employed the right tactics to get the right result. Bayern winger Arjen Robben accused United of playing “like a handball team“. With the Bavarians now overwhelming favourites to reach the semi-finals, United will know they need to score at least one goal in Munich if they are going to salvage anything out of a fairly dismal season.
Guardiola did not want to get drawn into a debate regarding claims from Schweinsteiger that Rooney had dived but did admit he had spoken to Spanish referee Carlos Velasco Carballo about the incident following the match. The former Barcelona coach instead focused on the dominance his side had produced during the first leg at Old Trafford.
“He is a very good referee. He made a very, very good game, but it is unfair. But it is okay. To win the Champions League you have to solve and overcome everything. In football this kind of thing happens,” said Guardiola.
“The result is 1-1 so we scored away, so this is good. I am happy for our performance, 70 per cent possession, 15 attempts. It is not easy to create the chances but we created quite enough.”