Iturralde González: Benfica got lucky against Vitória de Guimarães | OneFootball

Iturralde González analyzed some of the main incidents from Matchday 10 of Liga Portugal Betclic. The former international referee addressed the sending off of Fabio Blanco in the match between Vitória de Guimarães and Benfica and says that the Eagles ended up being favored in that play, as he does not see any reason for the red card to be shown.

“It’s true that Fabio Blanco goes in with his leg very high, with the sole, but he scrapes. There isn’t any contact where you can see the sole hitting the knee, going in hard, stretched out, and with all the studs hitting Barreiro’s knee. He’s just going for the ball and what he does is scrape with the studs. For me, it’s a yellow,” he told Record newspaper.

The specialist justifies his decision: "There is no excessive use of force or violent conduct. There isn’t full impact of the studs on the knee. He hits him and leaves his leg. Blanco’s leg goes up and down, but at no point does he hit the knee with all the studs. It’s a reckless play, very flashy and spectacular, but not a red. The key is that he doesn’t strike the knee or thigh with the studs, he just scrapes,” he explained.

Regarding the Sporting - Alverca (2-0) match, Iturralde analyzed two incidents in Sporting’s penalty area and says that, in both, there is no reason for a penalty to be awarded. “In the 52nd minute, it’s a tighter, greyer play, but I don’t see a penalty. There is contact, Diomande puts his body in and Marezi, when he feels the contact, lets himself fall. He grabs his leg and there isn’t even a touch on the leg. It’s one of those plays attackers do a lot, throwing themselves... For it to be a penalty, as I usually say, if you go to a store, from 1 to 10, you have to buy it for 9 or 10. How much would you buy this penalty for? Not even for 5, so it’s not a penalty. It’s a play where Marezi tries to get something that isn’t there.”

About the incident in the 90+3rd minute, he also doesn’t see any reason to call a foul against the Sporting center-back: “I see a football action. Both are going for the ball and holding each other. It’s true that there’s a slight touch from Diomande on Tiago Leite, but I see this as a football situation, not as a blow or a regular foul. It’s normal football contact, fighting for position and both trying to play the ball. For me, there’s nothing, it’s a ball dispute,” he concluded.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.