“It was my fault to make the fouls and see the yellow cards. But the gesture was for Xavi”
BARCELONA, 9 Nov. (EUROPA PRESS) –
FC Barcelona striker Robert Lewandowski assured this Wednesday, after his expulsion on Tuesday in the match against Osasuna at El Sadar (1-2) and about his gesture touching his nose with his finger, that it was addressed to his coach, Xavi Hernández , with whom they had spoken the previous week about the possibility of being expelled, and did not address referee Gil Manzano.
“About the gesture, it’s even funny because last week I was talking with the coach, with Xavi, that in the future it could happen that I saw a yellow card and I had to go (expelled) for another yellow card, and that it would be hard. I had that ‘feeling’ that it could happen. And after what happened I made this gesture to Xavi, not to the referee, it’s a big difference. It was like saying ‘what we talked about, today has happened'”, Lewandowski explained to the press.
After receiving the Golden Boot in Barcelona as the best European scorer last season (when he played for Bayern Munich), the striker assured that his truth and his story is what he told; that the gesture was for Xavi in the sense of saying ‘I told you so’.
“That’s my story, my feeling was that, that what we talked about in his day could happen and what had happened. But unfortunately, it was my fault in the fouls and seeing the yellow cards. But the gesture was for Xavi, because we talked about this”, he explained in this sense, acknowledging his guilt in the two actions in which he was reprimanded.
“The gesture was for my coach, not for the referee. It’s not that I was saying anything to the referee or ‘joking’, it’s what I said that I had the feeling that what was said was going to happen that night. It wasn’t for the referee”, he reiterated to make his version clear. For now, he will miss the derby against RCD Espanyol, when he returns from the World Cup, but he could be banned for up to 3 games.
On the other hand, he assured that he ended up happy with the ‘culé’ victory. “In the end, I’m happy because the team came from behind and won the game, which was very important for us. Despite the problems, we won. It means that, playing as a team until the end, we can get the 3 points”, he said, happy, As for the result of the match, with a comeback included despite going 1-0 when he was sent off.
Of course, he clarified that his two yellow actions were foul, although perhaps not deserving of so much punishment. “The second was a normal foul, a game foul, but yes, I saw two yellow cards. It was hard. But the team knew how to react and win, a very important victory for us,” he stressed.