Celtic were once ‘harshly done by’ by ref Jose Maria Sanchez – who takes charge of his second Hoops game in Dortmund this evening.
Brendan Rodgers and his team are in Germany as their Champions League campaign ramps up a gear after that rampant win over Slovan Bratislava two weeks ago. It will be a measuring stick for where they really are in comparison to Europe’s elite after a perfect start to the season thus far and the mood in the camp is confident after putting six past St Johnstone.
In the middle in front of the Yellow Wall will be experienced Spanish ref Sanchez, known to be a card-happy official who has brandished 62 yellows and four reds in his last ten matches. And the Hoops learned all about his strict brand officiating first-hand back in 2019. Sanchez was in the middle for their Europa League opener with Rennes back in 2019, which they drew 1-1 thanks to Ryan Christie’s penalty.
But the game is best remembered for sub Vakoun Bayo’s late red card. The striker, thrown on for Odsonne Edouard late on, was first shown a booking for catching Rennes captain Damien da Silva with a high boot – forcing him to be stretchered off with a head knock. But his second yellow left Celtic livid, as he attempted to win a rebound against home keeper Edouard Mendy before a bizarre moment of officiating.
Bayo was beaten to the ball after challenging for it and Sanchez initially waved play on. But there were furious protests from the home players. Keeper Mendy, who would later sign for Chelsea for £20m, went down clutching his face, and after the man in the middle went over to check on him, he brought play back to send Bayo off for a second bookable offence. This was in the days before VAR and Sanchez didn’t even appear to consult with his assistant before changing his mind – so it’s unclear what the decision was based on.
Then-boss Lennon was raging as he said: “I’m not happy about the sending off. It looked to me like the referee was waving play on. I don’t know if he looked back at the goalkeeper as he was holding his head.
“There was no contact with his face at all. If anything, it was minimal across his midriff. The referee changed his mind and Bayo can feel very hard done by by that decision. We pride ourselves on our team discipline. Yes, we lost a player to a red card, but we feel harshly done by.”