Opinions have been somewhat split on the challenge that Luis Diaz put on Achraf Hakimi in the first half of Bayern Munich’s 2-1 Champions League win at Paris Saint-Germain that left the Moroccan international with a considerable ankle injury. The challenge was initial given a yellow card, but then upgraded to a straight red after VAR consultation combined with the fact that there was an element of endangerment to Hakimi.
Diaz apologized for the incident after the match, but Hakimi will now face a spell on the sidelines for PSG with what’s been officially diagnosed as a “severe ankle sprain” by the club and Diaz will now miss Bayern’s next Champions League clash against Mikel Arteta’s high-flying Arsenal side. The Gunners, much like Bayern, have a perfect record to start the competition, having won all four of their opening matches.
In what’s a rather contrarion-esque take on the Diaz-Hakimi incident, former Bayern and Germany national team midfielder Toni Kroos offered his two cents on the occurrence and said he felt that a red card was actually a bit harsh on the Colombian. “For me, it’s clear: it wasn’t a red card. The referee let Hakimi’s injury have too much of an influence on his assessment of the play. I saw a brutal challenge, but not a brutal foul. If Hakimi had gotten up after the challenge, nobody would have reviewed the play. In situations like these, the referee should judge the action itself, not the consequence,” the six-time Champions League winner explained on his Podcast Einfach mal Luppen (via @iMiaSanMia).
Kroos’ stance bases itself on the same evidence that was discussed by German referee Manuel Gräfe on his personal X account, where he spoke about Hakimi’s injury having an impact on the referee choosing to upgrade the offense to a straight red card. Without the injury, it would have stayed a yellow, which you can also see from how many pauses the ref needed until he got to red he had explained in his post analyzing the incident and the referee’s subsequent VAR consultation.
It was also Diaz’s trailing right leg that made the challenge worse, even though it was technically his lead, left leg that Hakimi’s ankle got caught under. Just as both Kroos and Gräfe had suggested with experienced eyes, the challenge might have just stayed at a yellow if Hakimi did not get injured and carried on playing.
