Following Barcelona’s painful defeat to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League on Tuesday, Ilkay Gundogan questioned Ronald Araujo’s decision-making after the defender was sent off in the first half.
Araujo, 25, was shown a straight red card in the 29th minute of Barcelona’s 4-1 second-leg defeat by PSG for a professional foul on winger Bradley Barcola just outside his box.
The Uruguayan defender was then sent off by Romanian referee Istvan Kovacs, 17 minutes after Raphinha opened the scoring on the night to give Barca a 4-2 aggregate lead.
The moment proved a turning point in the tie, with PSG scoring four unanswered goals – courtesy of Ousmane Dembele, Vitinha and a brace from Kylian Mbappe – to win 6-4 on aggregate and book their place in the last four at the at the expense of Barça.
Asked for his reaction to the incident, Gundogan – who won the competition with Manchester City last season – said Araujo should have avoided making contact with Barcola.
“If he made a mistake, I guess it’s a red card. I haven’t seen the replay,” Gundogan said.
“But in these kinds of crucial moments you have to be sure to get the ball back and if you can’t – again, I don’t know if he got the ball back or not – you have to stay on the ball. gap.
“I would rather concede the goal there or give the striker a one-on-one: give him the opportunity, let our goalkeeper save us or even concede a goal, because being down with a red card so early in the game, it kills you.