Ernesto Valverde criticises double red card against Sevilla

Barcelona boss Ernesto Valverde has question the match officials after he saw two players sent off in the closing stages in their 4-0 win over Sevilla.

Debutant Ronald Araujo was shown a straight red card for a foul on fellow substitute Javier Hernandez – who was clean through on goal – with two minutes to play at the Camp Nou.

The situation as made worse as Ousmane Dembele was then dismissed for his excessive protests to referee Antonio Lahoz – but Valverde felt the red cards were harsh.

"The referee will have his opinion on the situation, and he is entitled to his views.

"However, I am not so sure the decisions were correct in a clean game.

"Araujo's sending off did not seem to be a red card, but I am not neutral in this.

"As for Dembele, I was surprised to see him sent off for making a comment to the referee.

"I don't think it would have been a long comment made by him.

"Even I find it difficult to communicate to Dembele in Spanish, so I am surprised that he made a comment to the referee."

Araujo came into the senior squad for the first time, to provide defence cover on the bench, as Jean-Clair Todibo started in place of the suspended Clement Lenglet.

Lenglet will return to the side for the first game after the international break – away at Eibar – but Araujo will miss three league games.

Dembele will now miss the trip to face the Basque side, however due to the nature the offence, Lahoz confirmed he had included Dembele's actions in his match report.

Intially it had appeared that Dembele had incurred a second yellow card, but Lahoz confirmed in his report that it was a straight red card for the former Borussia Dortmund man, after he labelled the experienced official as 'not good'.

That could lead to La Liga and the RFEF looking into the matter and extending the French international's ban, with two additional games meaning he would miss the key El Clasico tie at home to Real Madrid on October 26th.

Valverde confirmed they would wait for the authorities decision before making an appeal, if his ban is more than one game.

Tags Ernesto Valverde Ousmane Dembele Ronald Araujo
La Liga - Club News