Referee Tobias Welz explains decision to send off Upamecano

By Rune Gjerulff @runegjerulff

In an interview this morning, referee Tobias Welz outlined his decision to show Dayot Upamecano a red card in Bayern’s loss against Gladbach.

Referee Tobias Welz has explained his much-discussed sending-off for Dayot Upamecano in Bayern Munich’s 3-2 defeat against Gladbach in the Bundesliga yesterday.

The French centre-back was shown a straight red card in the eighth minute after he was adjudged to bring down Alassane Pléa in a dangerous position.

“Of course it was a close decision,” Welz told Sport1 this morning.

“[Pléa] tried to keep running, but there was contact on the shoulder from [Upamecano], which made him lose his balance. Upamecano was the last man and therefore shown a red card.

Welz also explained why he chose not to review the situation on the monitor on the sidelines.

“I discussed it with the video assistant, of course. He also checked it for a long time, but he couldn’t have given me any other pictures than the ones I saw live on the pitch. That’s why we agreed there was no need to review it.”

Welz received an apology from Julian Nagelsmann in the wake of the game after the Bayern let his feelings be known in the tunnel.

The German Football Association (DFB) control committee has since confirmed that an investigation will be launched against Nagelsmann as a result of the episode.

“We had a face-to-face conversation in the dressing room. There were no insults. For me, everything is okay. We’ll shake hands normally next time we see each other,” emphasized Welz.