Manuel Neuer saw a red card for the first time in his 866th game as a professional footballer. The Bayern Munich goalkeeper had to leave the field in the 18th minute of the cup clash against Bayer Leverkusen; after an emergency stop, referee Harm Osmers showed the Bayern captain red.
Neuer had not seen a yellow-red card or a red card so far in his career; he was only shown a yellow card 23 times. In his 124 international matches he even went without any warnings.
Neuer was the last man to run over the onrushing Jeremie Frimpong shortly before the penalty area after a long ball. Substitute keeper Daniel Peretz came in for the 38-year-old. Bayern coach Vincent Kompany took Leroy Sane off the field.
“It’s always difficult for a goalkeeper,” said national coach Julian Nagelsmann on ARD about the scene: “He has a starting position that’s a little too low – if he stays low, he might have a brutal one-on-one, that’s it “It’s not pleasant. But Konny Laimer is still relatively good in duels.”
Ultimately, it was “always a millimeter decision,” Nagelsmann said, calling the expulsion “uncontroversial. Controlling the space is Manu’s great strength, in which case it might have been better to wait. But in hindsight you’re always smarter.”
Neuer’s former teammate Bastian Schweinsteiger saw the cardinal mistake a few seconds earlier: Leverkusen defense chief Jonathan Tah was far too unchallenged in playing his long pass to Frimpong, he said.
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