In a very tight match, Colo Colo tied 1-1 against River Plate in Santiago, in the first leg of the Copa Libertadores quarter-finals. However, both teams have confirmed absences for the return leg in Buenos Aires, due to avoidable red cards that were shown in Pedreros, when the last leg of the match was being played at the Monumental stadium.
In the final minutes of the match, while the Chilean team was preparing to serve a corner kick, Maximiliano Falcón grabbed Paulo Díaz, both fell to the grass and, with the movement, the Chilean hit the Uruguayan with his elbow, who rolled on the ground in an exaggerated manner. For this action, referee Raphael Claus warned them with a yellow card.
However, the controversy continued. The action did not even get to restart when the Uruguayan fell again due to a push from the national centre-back trained in Palestino. The Brazilian referee got tired and sent them both off.
Both the Uruguayan and the national team complained to Claus, especially the Colo Colo player, but to no avail. The referee did not want to complicate his life and was severe with both players. The VAR? It could not intervene as there were two expulsions for double warnings and it only operates in situations of direct red cards.
The story continues below
More about Football
Once they were off the pitch, Falcón and Díaz continued to talk to each other on the way to the tunnel. The Uruguayan even made gestures to the player wearing the red stripe, as if to show him that they should resolve everything in the tunnel.
Immediately, part of the Cacique and River delegation, along with security and Conmebol personnel, ran to the scene to try to prevent the conflict from escalating and breaking out into a larger fight between the two defenders, since the Uruguayan was waiting for the Chilean to confront him and continue the argument that had started on the field. Once in the tunnel, there was a lot of tension and personnel from both teams had to intervene to avoid a scandal, according to what was reported in Macul.
And although there were a number of different versions of what happened off the pitch between the Uruguayan and the central defender of La Roja, the fact is that after the match both were in the locker room area, together with their families.
Meanwhile, in a press conference, Jorge Almirón, Colo Colo coach, regretted the expulsion of one of his regular starters and criticized Raphael Claus’ decision. “The referee could have handled it differently. There was a push from Paulo Díaz, I see that they are arguing. It is part of football, things that happen in the area. It is the quarter-finals of the Copa Libertadores. He could have handled it differently, but the order was that: act in the easiest way and expel the two players. He got rid of the problem because Díaz pushed him. He could have continued the game calmly. It was not the expulsion for either of them. That seemed unfair to me,” said the former Boca Juniors and Lanús coach.