Nagelsmann fumes over Upamecano red as Bayern slip up at Gladbach

Julian Nagelsmann was left furious by Dayot Upamecano’s red card as Bayern Munich suffered a 3-2 Bundesliga defeat at Borussia Monchengladbach.

Upamecano was sent off in the eighth minute after being adjudged to have brought down Alassane Plea, who got goal-side of the centre-back after a hopeful long ball.

Goals from Lars Stindl, Jonas Hofmann and Marcus Thuram lifted Gladbach to a deserved win. Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting equalised after Stindl’s opener for Bayern, but Mathys Tel’s late strike was scant consolation.

The defeat leaves Bayern in danger of being knocked down to second place when Union Berlin face Schalke on Sunday, while Borussia Dortmund will have the chance to move level on points with Nagelsmann’s Bavarians when they host Hertha Berlin.

But Nagelsmann seemed less concerned with Bayern’s league position than confronting referee Tobias Welz, reportedly storming through the media area after the game to loudly knock on the match official’s door.

Afterwards, he told Sky: “In my eyes, Upa has only a minimal touch on his shoulder, but he doesn’t pull.

“And you can see in the slow motion that Plea’s shoulder does not move back a millimetre.”

6 – Since 2017-18 Borussia Mönchengladbach have won six #Bundesliga matches against Bayern München – more than they have won against any other side in that period. In the same period, Bayern have not lost more than three times to any other side in the league. Nemesis. #BMGFCB pic.twitter.com/JuUoqIZMeY

— OptaFranz (@OptaFranz) February 18, 2023

Insisting Welz should have explained himself, Nagelsmann added: “You can decide all this, but maybe you could stand up after the game and say that the red card might have been a bit exaggerated.

“Everyone can live with it, he is also a person who sometimes makes mistakes.”

Bayern’s Alphonso Davies, meanwhile, expressed pride in the spirit they showed after going down to 10 men.

“It’s tough having a red card so early in the match,” Davies told Bundesliga.com.

“It’s not good for any team, but we just kept fighting, we kept playing the way we knew how to play. We continued on.

“I mean, it’s unfortunate with the red card. You know, it can happen to anyone. We don’t put our head down. We kept our head up, we kept fighting.”