Farke and Virkus react to Bensebaini’s sending off: “A fully justified yellow-red.”

Borussia Mönchengladbach sporting director Roland Virkus and BMG trainer Daniel Farke have both issued their opinions on the quick sending off of left-back Ramy Bensebaini during Saturday’s 0-0 draw with Freiburg. 

Emotions ran high during the late stages of Borussia Mönchengladbach’s home 0-0 draw with SC Freiburg on Saturday afternoon. Algerian fullback Ramy Bensebaini got sent off on a quick-blitz double booking in the 87th-minute. Instead of celebrating a hard-fought point gained in front of the hometown fans, Gladbach’s coach and top manager found themselves discussing what will be an important loss for them next week.

Bensebaini voiced his displeasure with a free-kick awarded by match official Benjamin Brand after a foul from Manu Koné three minutes from the end of normal time. Brand reached into the book to discipline the BMG fullback for throwing the ball out in frustration. After his booking, Bensebaini opted to taunt Brand further with a sarcastic clap. Brand went straight for the second yellow.

Club sporting director Roland Virkus made it clear that he agreed with the referee’s decision. Even if “football is pure emotion” and “punishments for hectic scenes are often arbitrary”, Virkus couched some of his later quotes with an unequivocal stance on the scene.

“Hitting the ball away, that’s a completely justified yellow card,” Virkus told the post-match Sky interview team, “After that, I wouldn’t have clapped. A completely justified yellow-red card.”

Bensebaini’s trainer Daniel Farke more-or-less agreed with Virkus’ stance, though Farke did get a dig in at Brand. The BMG trainer felt it a shame that the match couldn’t finish XI vs. XI.

“I’m critical of that [Bensebaini], it mustn’t happen to him,” Farke stated in his post-match interview, still adding, “If a player has to have his emotions under control, the ref must too. I would have liked him to look the other way when it came to a little clap.”

Gladbach face Leipzig next weekend and will certainly have a difficult time without one of their best players on both sides of the ball. Bensebaini is almost certain to depart the club on a free this coming offseason. Sky Germany reported today that the Algerian is coming close to an agreement with Borussia Dortmund, but the pay channel has falsely reported this before and the rumors are largely unsubstantiated.

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