Why was José Mourinho sent off against Real Madrid? Ex-coach gets red card

Benfica head coach José Mourinho was sent off in a heated Champions League clash with Real Madrid on Tuesday. Madrid won the game 1-0 but that barely scratches the surface of a chaotic and controversial game.

Mourinho’s red card was one of a number of incidents in the match. The Benfica boss was shown a yellow card midway through the second half after his team had been awarded a free kick on the edge of the Madrid box. Seconds later, the referee produced a red card and Mourinho was sent off. Footage of the incident appeared to show that Mourinho had called for Vinícius Júnior to receive a second yellow card for his part in the foul.

Soon after, Mourinho was seen sitting in the stands directly behind the home dugout. However that could still land him in hot water with officials for failing to leave the technical area. Former Champions League referee Mark Clattenburg said of Mourinho: “It will be interesting to see what UEFA’s delegate does because he [Jose Mourinho] is still in the technical area where the Benfica technical staff are, and he should be further away, so he can coach his team from that technical area.”

The other two biggest incidents of the game both included Vinícius Júnior, for positive and negative reasons. The first came early in the second half when the Brazilian cut inside from the left flank and arrowed a right-footed shot into the top corner. Moment later, however, Vinícius reacted to alleged racist comments made by Benfica midfielder Gianluca Prestianni. The referee began UEFA’s anti-racism protocols but the game was able to restart for a fractious final 30 minutes.

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