"It's a red that could have been avoided" - PSG star not happy with Sergio Ramos being sent off as Ligue 1 giants are held to a draw by Reims
Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) wing-back Nordi Mukiele has expressed his thoughts on Les Parisiens teammate Sergio Ramos being sent off against Stade Reims.
PSG played their 10th Ligue 1 match of the season against Reims on Saturday, October 8. For the first time since August and only the second time under Christophe Galtier, they failed to come away with a win in the league.
The Parisians had three shots on target on the night, but failed to break the deadlock and thus saw the game end in a 0-0 draw. One of the biggest talking points from the match was the referee's decision to give Ramos the marching order minutes before half-time.
PSG players hounded the referee after he awarded Reims a free-kick and flashed a yellow card at Ramos for committing the foul. The Spaniard continued to argue his case and eventually received a second booking for dissent.
Galtier's side were thus forced to play over 50 minutes of the game with just 10 men on the pitch. Mukiele, who started his third Ligue 1 match for the Parisians, feels Ramos could have avoided the red card.
Mukiele admitted that the PSG players, including the centre-back, should have kept their cool during the match. He also insisted that the red card changed the game for the champions. The Frenchman was quoted as saying by Canal Supporters:
"It's football, it happens, it happened tonight against us. We could have stayed a little calmer. But you know, when you're on the pitch, you can't calm the tension, you're in adrenaline."
"It's a shame to end up with a red. It's a red that could have been avoided. But the game is over, we'll put that behind us. The red card changed the match, in the tensions, in the referee's choices."
Mukiele also claimed that he does not want to dwell on the referee's decision and is already looking forward to the team's upcoming games. He added:
"But I don't want to talk about the referee, he may have made mistakes, we do too, so we have to put that aside. We are thinking of ourselves, we are thinking of recovering because we have important matches coming up."
PSG were without Lionel Messi and Neymar in the starting XI
Lionel Messi and Neymar have been two of PSG's best performances so far this season. However, the South American duo were not present in the team's starting XI against Reims on Saturday.
Neymar was named on the bench and came on as a substitute for Carlos Soler before the one-hour mark. Messi, on the other hand, was rested for the match after he suffered a knock during the Parisians' UEFA Champions League match against Benfica.