Nani Red Card Stymies United Challenge

Premier League | Article posted on March 6th, 2025

Manchester United’s hopes of advancing to the last eight of the Champions League were dealt a fatal blow when winger Nani was sent off just before the hour mark of their match with Real Madrid. The decision to show the Portugese a straight red card, for an incident involving Alvaro Arbeloa certainly provoked a strong reaction from United’s management, with Sir Alex Ferguson patently angry about the decision, and refusing to appear for his post-match press conference.

There has been some heated debate regarding whether or not the decision was correct. On the one hand, it is patently obvious that Nani did not intend to injure his opponent. Many believe that this should have resulted in the referee showing leniency towards the winger. However, a further examination of the rules indicates that there is no such contention contained within the clause regarding dangerous play. There is no compulsion for the referee to take ‘intent’ into consideration, meaning that it is entirely up to the referee’s interpretation to decide whether or not a player’s action has endangered another player, and if he decides that it has, a red card is inevitable.

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The controversy over the incident cast a shadow over a very tense European tie. What is almost certain, though, is that no English team will participate in this season’s quarter-finals.

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