Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone could face a three-match ban for encouraging an extra ball to be thrown onto the pitch during his side’s 1-0 win against Malaga. As Malaga attempted to rush forward on a counter attack, a second ball suddenly appeared on the pitch which appeared to be thrown from the touchline. While there was no evidence that Simeone threw the ball, the manager was swiftly sent to the stands by the referee.
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While Malaga were not distracted by what appeared to be a clear attempt at disrupting their counter-attack, the referee came to the conclusion that Simeone was responsible for the second ball and the Atleti boss could now spend the last three crucial league matches watching his side from the stands.
Replays of the incident later appeared to show Simeone encourage someone to throw the ball onto the pitch, and the Atleti boss admitted in a post-match interview that the referee was correct to send him off, though he did not admit any wrongdoing.
"'The images will show (what happened). It'll become clear,” he said.
“It's clear that the referee took the correct decision, following the rules. He did what he had to do, sending off the coach.
“It was a kid who was beside us (who threw the ball), but that does not change anything."
While the referee may have been right in sending off Simeone, who is responsible for the behaviour of his bench, it’s likely that the incident occurred due to a confused ball boy or a late ball being returned by the crowd. And it will be difficult for officials to prove Simeone guilty of any misconduct unless further evidence emerges.
Luckily for Simeone, the incident did not result in any misfortune for his side as they went on to win 1-0 and remain equal on points with Barcelona at the top of the table, though they stay in second place on goal difference.
In fact, Simeone claimed that his sending to the stands actually led to an advantage as he was able to see the match from a different perspective. His decision to sub on Angel Correa after 57 minutes saw the player bag a goal just five minutes later, with Simeone claiming this was due to his new vantage point.
"You see things different from higher up," he said.
"I was right to think about Correa, I saw that well. I hope it [any potential suspension] will not be for too many weeks."
Atletico Madrid will host 16th placed Rayo this weekend, who put Real Madrid to the sword in their last match by going up 2-0 in the first 15 minutes before Real managed to claw back and win 3-2.
