Last night’s television and radio pundits were largely in agreement that Daizen Maeda shouldn’t have been sent off in Celtic’s heavy defeat to Atletico Madrid.
Celtic lost 6-0 in the UEFA Champions League on a night that the team, staff and supporters will quickly want to forget.
There’s little doubt that Maeda’s red card was a major moment in the fixture. Although 1-0 down at that point, Celtic were competing well in the match.
Maeda caught Mario Hermoso when going for a 50/50 ball, with his foot ricocheting onto the leg of the Atletico man on the follow-through. There was zero malice in the challenge and it’s a stretch to determine it as dangerous play.
Pundits analyse Daizen Maeda Celtic sending-off vs Atletico
Many big-name pundits reckoned the refereeing and VAR team got this one badly wrong upon review.
At half-time, former Celtic manager Martin O’Neill said on TNT Sports 1: “I think it is exceptionally harsh. The wider picture of things, I don’t know where we are going with these things. They have had a still there, and the referee is going over to look at it, still. Instead of kicking off the game. It’s incredibly harsh.
“You’re talking about Champions League football and you find yourself a goal down and a man down in that length of time. It’s a long way back from that. But I thought it was exceptionally harsh and I’m taking my bias out of this.”
Hargreaves agreed with that assessment, also on TNT Sports 1, adding: “I think it’s harsh. He’s worked incredibly hard, he’s three vs one on his own, he’s chasing the ball. He puts in such a shift, the referee gives him a yellow, I think he has got it spot on there. It’s not with two feet, he’s not got both feet off the ground, he’s trying to play the ball and he is just a little bit late.
“He’s not that type of player and when you see the stills, obviously, it looks a little bit different but not a big fan of the pictures referees see. It’s had a huge impact on the game.”
A fuming Aiden McGeady summed up the situation on BBC Radio Scotland, too, stating: “If that’s what you’re getting sent off today, what’s the point in even making a challenge? I disagree with it. I don’t think it was a red card. Up until that point, I was encouraged by how Celtic were playing.”
Celtic are now staring down the barrel of a European exit and now need huge wins over Lazio and Feyenoord to keep anything alive. That’s a tall order, especially with Maeda now suspended for the trip to Rome.
It’s another European campaign gone awry for the Bhoys. It’s too familiar a story over the four games so far – cheap goals, missed chances and red cards. Supporters deserve better.
In other news, Ally McCoist hits out at Atletico Madrid manager Diego Simeone for his actions towards Celtic .
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