Jude Bellingham was sent off with a straight red card in Real Madrid‘s game at Osasuna after he swore at the referee.
Referee José Luis Munuera dismissed the England midfielder in the 40th minute of Saturday’s LaLiga game after Bellingham appeared to complain about a refereeing decision while gesturing with his arms.
The two exchanged words before Munuera pulled out the red card.
Madrid coach Carlo Aneclotti had already received a yellow card for complaining about what he thought was a handball by an Osasuna defender in the host’s area that was not punished.
Madrid were 1-0 up courtesy of a goal from Kylian Mbappé, before Osasuna’s Ante Budimir score a penalty in the second half to earn his side a 1-1 draw.
Ancelotti said there was a miscommunication between Bellingham and Munuera about what was said.
“I think [the referee] didn’t understand English well. [Bellingham] said f— off, not f— you. [The referee] made a mistake,” Ancelotti told a post-match news conference.
“In Spanish it would be ‘no me jodas’. I don’t think it’s offensive.”
When asked if he would talk to Bellingham about the incident, Ancelotti said: “I’m in favour of talking to the referee, not Bellingham.
“He [Bellingham] was complaining about a decision saying ‘if that’s a foul, it’s a penalty … And he said ‘f— off’.
“It shows the referee was nervous. Bellingham didn’t do anything to get sent off today. He’s [the referee] made a mistake with the translation.”
Information from ESPN’s Alex Kirkland contributed to this report.
