Connect with us

Bayern Munich

Referee explains shock decision to send off Upamecano in Bayern defeat

Bundesliga referee Tobias Welz has explained his decision to send Bayern Munich defender Dayot Upamecano off in the early moments of the game against Borussia Monchengladbach yesterday.

The referee gave Upamecano his marching orders in the eighth minute, giving Die Fohlen a man advantage. Gladbach took advantage, beating the Bavarians 3-2 at Borussia Park.

The decision left Bayern manager Julian Nagelsmann upset, and he stormed into the referee’s dressing room after the game. The 35-year-old admitted that he took things too far.

Surprisingly, it looked like the referee declined to watch the incident on the screen.

“Of course, I coordinated with the video assistant,” Welz explained on SPORT1.

“He also checked for a long time – the VAR could not have given me any other pictures than the ones I saw on the pitch. That’s why I didn’t go out anymore.

“This is a decision in the grey area, but in my opinion, nothing for the video assistant.

“It was a sprint duel. The Gladbach player (Plea) tried to keep running, but there was contact on the shoulder from the Bayern player, which made him lose his balance. Upamecano was the last man. Therefore, red card.”


Gladbach capitalised on their advantage only five minutes after the sending-off. Lars Stindl opened the scoring against former keeper Yann Sommer, angling a sweet hit beyond the Swiss shot-stopper.

Bayern replied before the end of the first half as Alphonso Davies raced clear before firing a cross for Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting to finish.

However, Gladbach came out for the second half and moved to put the game to bed. Plea played a cut-back for Jonas Hoffmann to slide home on 55.

The German international turned provider for Marcus Thuram minutes later. In the dying minutes, Mathys Tel slammed home a finish, but it did not change anything.

Bayern dropped points again to Gladbach this season after drawing 1-1 in their first meeting. They will hope to bounce back against surprise title candidates Union Berlin next week.

Union can go top of the Bundesliga today with a win over bottom-placed Schalke 04.

More in Bayern Munich