Former Arsenal coach, Arsene Wenger was not happy about the red card Inter Milan’s Alexis Sanchez received during the UEFA Champions League round of 16-second leg game against Liverpool on Tuesday, March 8, 2022.
On the said date, Inter Milan visited the Anfield stadium for the second leg of the UEFA Champions League round of 16. The Italian club went into the game with two goals deficit because Liverpool defeated them 2-0 at San Siro in the first leg.
During the second leg in England, Alexis Sanchez who was a former player at Manchester United and Arsenal received his first yellow card in the first half. Then, the scoreline was 0-0.
In the 61st minute, Lautaro Martinez scored Inter Milan’s opener which gave the visitors hope that they could turn things around by overturning the two goals deficit.
Unfortunately for the visitors, Alexis Sanchez was involved in a challenge with Liverpool’s Fabinho. Due to the way Fabinho reacted to the challenge, the match officials concluded that Sanchez fouled Fabinho, hence, he received a second yellow card and then a red in the 63rd minute.
In Sanchez’s absence, Inter Milan ended the game with a 1-0 win which was not enough to overturn the two goals deficit. Hence, Liverpool qualified for the next round 2-1 on aggregate.
After the game, many football enthusiasts took to social media to stress that Sanchez went for the ball and never intended to touch the Liverpool man.
Also, Arsene Wenger who is now FIFA’s Chief of Global Football Development, insisted that Fabinho cheated to get Alexis Sanchez red-carded during the game.
Wenger stressed that the referee’s decision to reduce Inter Milan to 10-men killed the game, adding that the excitement that the fans could have enjoyed in the last 25 minutes was not there because the visitors were a man down.
Arsene Wenger however stressed that Liverpool deserved to qualify for the next round of the tournament because they won 2-0 in the first leg and hit the woodwork thrice in the second leg.
“Borderline between cheating and being clever,” Arsene Wenger told beIN SPORTS after the game. “He was cheating, he made more of it. Maybe he had pain, he was touched by Sanchez. You cannot say it was completely fake.
“Maybe he could have got up quicker. It’s one of those fouls – when it’s one of your plays you say it’s clever, when you’re completely neutral like we’re supposed to be you can say he could have made less of it.
“He didn’t want to hurt him, he played first the ball…
“The referee killed the game at the wrong moment. It could have been interesting to see the last 25 minutes with 11 against 11. Overall Liverpool deserved to qualify – even today they three times hit the post.
“But I don’t agree with the decision of the referee. It killed the interest of the game.”
“He was cheating, he made more of it!”
— beIN SPORTS (@beINSPORTS_EN) March 8, 2022
More from Arsène Wenger on Fabinho’s reaction to the challenge from Alexis Sanchez, adding that the Inter attacker did not want to hurt the Liverpool midfielder. #beINUCL #UCL
Live Blog 👉 https://t.co/VnixJhEqVw pic.twitter.com/EZHuvl3nfW
Sanchez can’t know that Fabinho will put his leg in front of him. His foot isn’t that high.
— Alé 🟣 🇺🇦 🇾🇪 (@Sinturicco) March 9, 2022
Listen to the analysis. Those who played it at this level.pic.twitter.com/L9UZOoEojM
Arsene Wenger comments on Roman Abramovich’s decision to sell Chelsea
Meanwhile, Arsene Wenger commented on Roman Abramovich’s decision to sell Chelsea, saying that anyone who buys the club might not be able to match up with the spending power of the Russian billionaire.
Recall that due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Roman Abramovich who is believed to have strong ties with his country president Vladimir Putin was pressured to sell the club.
The pressure was so intense that the Russian billion was left with no choice but to place a £3 billion price tag on the cut. Interested buyers have until March 15 to submit their bids.
Once that is done and one of the bids is accepted, that will signal the official end to Abramovich’s era at Chelsea which started in 2003.
In an interview with BeIN Sports, Arsene Wenger stressed that no new owner can spend as much as Abramovich spent on the club due to the financial fair play rule that put limitations to clubs’ spending.
“Today you cannot put that money in, privately, that is impossible”, Wenger said. “It is limited to, I think, £200m over three years. At that time you could put a billion in.
“I always advised people who wanted to buy football clubs, instead of putting £100m in every year, put £500m in the first year and buy the right players, then you have a team. He could do that and he did very well and today I think the club is managed very well and is at a top-level…
“It is still sustainable as a football club today because they are at a good level. But after that when you come in it is down to money and good decisions.
“Sometimes people have good decisions but no money, sometimes they have money but they make bad decisions. So you have to put the two together.”
