Ascacíbar apologised after red card that cost Boca v Barcelona SC | OneFootball

Santiago Ascacíbar was one of the main negative figures in Boca’s defeat to Barcelona SC in Ecuador. His first-half red card completely changed the course of the match and, aware of that, the midfielder apologized to his teammates once the game was over. In the locker room, he was strongly self-critical, took responsibility, and said he would work to make sure something like that does not happen again.

According to TyC Sports, the 29-year-old spoke up behind closed doors and acknowledged that he had left the team in a very difficult position in a key Copa Libertadores match, which is why he decided to face the issue immediately after the final whistle.

The play that led to the red card happened in the 36th minute of the first half. Milton Céliz was brought down by Marcelo Weigandt and tried to poke the ball forward with his head to keep the move going. With the ball shielded by the Barcelona player’s body, Ascacíbar kicked him twice, one of them to the head. At first, the Colombian referee had called a foul on the right-back, but he was summoned by VAR, reviewed the play, and decided to send off the Boca midfielder.

Up to that point, Boca had been going toe to toe in Guayaquil and was looking for a crucial win to improve its position in a Group D that had become wide open. However, being a man down forced Claudio Úbeda’s team to change its plan and ended up being decisive in the defeat, even though the home side later also had Céliz sent off.

Aside from the mistake, as happened with Adam Bareiro against Cruzeiro, the squad appreciated that Ascacíbar took responsibility right away. The midfielder is going through a good spell and is an important player for the coach, so he will now try to put the episode behind him and quickly focus on the decisive run of matches coming up for Boca.

Conmebol, with the help of referee Carlos Betancur’s report, opened disciplinary proceedings over the Boca player’s sending-off. Given the straight red card and the seriousness of the incident, it is very likely that Ascacíbar will receive at least a two-match suspension and, as a result, miss the rest of the group stage. In addition, the Estudiantes academy product will have to pay a $1,500 fine. Boca are already aware of the situation, even though the ruling is not yet final.

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