Rivaldo tells Barcelona to have a word with Dembele about ‘silly sending off’

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The Frenchman saw red against Sevilla

Rivaldo reckons that Barcelona need to have a word with Ousmane Dembele after he was sent off for dissent against Sevilla at the Camp Nou.

Dembele saw red for calling referee Mateu Lahoz “very bad” for his decision to send off Ronald Araujo and has been hit with a two-match ban.

Barcelona have confirmed they plan to appeal the sanction, but Rivaldo thinks they should be talking to the 22-year-old too.

“Barcelona need to have words of their own with the player about this silly sending off. It’s not acceptable and it could harm the team, with his absence creating difficulties for his team-mates.

“It’s important for the club to have an internal procedure to sanction players in these kind of foolish situations, in which you have inappropriate talking to a referee or manager. It makes sense to punish him in some way to avoid new situations in the future.

“I’m not referring to Dembele only, but to any player that might commit a similar action. A player needs to be smart, be aware that there are more matches to play after that, and don’t let his team-mates, manager and club in a tough situation.”

Source | Betfair

Dembele’s ban means he will miss Barca’s next two games against Eibar and Real Madrid unless the club manage to get the suspension reduced on appeal. Don’t hold your breath on that though.

Source: barcablaugranes.com