Leandro Barreiro experienced moments of great tension during Luxembourg's defeat to Estonia (0-1), in a Nations League match. The Benfica midfielder believed that he had been shown a yellow card on the substitutes' bench and that, as a result, he would miss the final match of this international break, against Bulgaria, on Tuesday.
The incident occurred in the 84th minute. Initially, the yellow card was attributed to Barreiro for alleged protests directed at the refereeing team following an incident that occurred on the pitch. Incredulous at the decision, the Luxembourg international repeatedly approached the fourth official.
“What did I say? What did I say? To me?”, questioned the 26-year-old player. The situation left Barreiro visibly distraught. Off the pitch, the midfielder lost his cool and even had to be calmed down by national team coach Jeff Strasser. Convinced that he would be suspended for the next game, the player ended up venting his frustration by throwing his shirt to the ground before returning to the bench.
However, it was all a misunderstanding. After the match, UEFA corrected the disciplinary report and attributed the yellow card to Marvin Martins, who, like Barreiro, also did not leave the substitutes' bench. This way, the Benfica midfielder remains available for the fixture against Bulgaria, avoiding a suspension that, for many minutes, he thought was already inevitable, since he had already been shown a yellow card against Iceland.