Barcelona boss Ernesto Valverde claims Clement Lenglet became ‘the first player sent off to receive an apology from his rival for fouling him.’
“We were dominating the game and the red card affected us a bit,” said the Coach after Girona pegged his side back in a 2-2 draw.
“The team reacted and came back from a losing position. We managed to draw, but we weren’t able to to impose ourselves on the scoreboard.
“I didn’t see the Lenglet incident on TV, but I’ve been shown a photograph of it. It’s likely that there was some sort of collision, but I think it’s the first time that the player who is sent off receives an apology from his rival for fouling him.
“It wasn’t a red card. I didn’t see any aggression from afar. I thought the VAR review was for the Girona player.
“I thought about bringing Umtiti on before half-time, but I decided to wait a few minutes because I thought it was better to give him more time to warm up…
“In addition, we were in control of the game. The 1-1 came out of nowhere. The new signings are going to help us a lot, for sure.
“Today we had the match under control but then it went how it did…”
