“Whenever you touch them they are on the floor crying like a baby” - When Adebayor accused Barcelona of not playing fair after fiery Real Madrid loss
Former Real Madrid player Emmanuel Adebayor berated Barcelona players for going down so easily after the first leg of a Champions League semifinal clash between both sides back in 2011, in which the latter emerged with a 2-0 victory. Adebayo was irked with the overreaction of Barcelona players to challenges from Real Madrid players and called them ‘’crying babies’’ in the post-match interview.
Los Blancos hosted La Blaugrana in the first leg of the high-stake contest in the Champions League in 2011. This was the time when both teams were at the peak of their power, as Barca had a lethal Lionel Messi with a maestro in Pep Guardiola as their coach. Real Madrid, on the other hand, had a prime Cristiano Ronaldo in their ranks and a two-time UCL winning coach, Jose Mourinho, at the time.
After a goalless first half between both sides, Los Blancos had their momentum checked after defender Pepe was sent off for his challenge on Dani Alves. The numerical disadvantage seems to turn the tide in La Blaugrana’s favor as Lionel Messi came up clutch to score a brace that gave the Catalan club a 2-0 victory.
Meanwhile, Mourinho introduced Emmanuel Adebayor early in the second half to strengthen Madrid’s attack, but the Togolese forward couldn’t do much in the final third as Pep Guardiola’s boys had most of the ball. Adebayor was, however, unhappy with the theatrics of Barca players while the match was ongoing, and he launched a furious tirade about it after the match.
He said (via Talksport):
"Maybe Pepe committed a foul but I don't think it was a red card. Whenever you play against Barca, whenever you touch them, they are on the floor crying like a baby. I have played three games against Barcelona and each time we have had to play with 10 men."
"Everyone talks about Barcelona and their fair play but I think they are very far away from fair play,"he added. "Whenever you make contact when going for a one-on-one or 50-50 ball, they are on the floor crying, putting their hand up near their face. Their manager, fans and the players on the bench are always crying. “Don’t get me wrong, Barcelona is a fantastic club, they have fantastic players, but they have to stop that."
It is worth noting that Jose Mourinho was also sent into the stands during the game for protesting about Pepe’s red card.
UEFA opened disciplinary proceedings against Barcelona and Real Madrid after the clash
In the aftermath of Barcelona’s 2-0 first-leg triumph against their Spanish counterpart Real Madrid, UEFA opened disciplinary cases against both clubs.
The case against Los Blancos was due to the throwing of missiles, a pitch invasion, the red card shown to Pepe, the dismissal of Jose Mourinho, and Mourinho’s inappropriate statement to the media after the match as it violated UEFA’s principles of conduct in Article 5 of the disciplinary regulations. The case against Barca was the red card shown to reserved goalkeeper Jose Pinto.