At Borussia Mönchengladbach, Ramy Bensebaini is one of the top performers. The Algerian usually does his job reliably on the left back and is also successful from time to time as a penalty taker or with a header in the opponent’s penalty area. On Saturday, however, the 27-year-old showed himself from a different, darker side.
In the goalless draw against Freiburg at home, the defender blew his fuses several times. First he received a yellow card for putting the ball wide after a foul by colleague Kouadio Koné. And when he acknowledged this with a sneering slap in the direction of referee Benjamin Brand (Unterspiesheim), he flew off the field with the traffic light card just seconds later (87th). It was one of the dumbest red cards in Bundesliga history.
But that’s not all. Because on the way to the catacombs of the Gladbach Arena, Bensebaini shot down a small advertising gang and gave the referee a few ugly words. First he asked in English “That’s normal?” The verbal insults were clearly heard on the broadcaster Sky.
Therefore, the control committee of the German Football Association will now start investigations. The suspension of one game can now become one for several weeks if the association sanctions the insult to the referee accordingly.
There was also criticism from his boss: “He has to have his emotions under control. That must not happen to him,” said Gladbach coach Daniel Farke. However, he also saw complicity in the referee: “If the player has to have his emotions under control, then the referee must also have his emotions under control. He is not allowed to give a yellow card for the ball being pushed away.”
The debates about a lack of professionalism hit Bensebaini at an inopportune time. Because he should already agree with championship contenders Dortmund on a free transfer in the coming summer. It’s an exciting question whether they’ll think about it again at the other Borussia.