New Headline: Suarez's Substitute Takes Charge in Dortmund Clash

LEVERKUSEN, GERMANY - MARCH 14: (EDITORS NOTE: Image has been digitally enhanced. ) Referee Christian Dingert shows a red card to Luis Diaz of FC Bayern München during the Bundesliga match between Bayer 04 Leverkusen and FC Bayern München at BayArena on March 14, 2026 in Leverkusen, Germany. (Photo by Pau Barrena/Bundesliga/Bundesliga Collection via Getty Images) Witnessing Bayern Munich playing with 9 men is a truly rare sight to behold.

That is exactly what happened, though after Luis Díaz was given a second yellow card for simulation, following Nicholas Jackson’s straight red card earlier in the match. Still, Díaz’s sending off was very controversial, as many believe that the combination of contact on the Colombian and immediate recovery following his fall indicate that he did not dive and earn a card for simulation. That group of people would eventually include the referee Christian Dingert himself, who changed his mind following the match after rewatching the footage.

Unfortunately, at that point it was too late to take back the 20 minutes Bayern had to play without the former Porto player. This and other controversial decisions saw Bayern’s honorary president Uli Hoeneß take it upon himself to heavily criticize the refereeing team’s performance, saying “that is the worst performance of a refereeing team that I have ever experienced in a Bundesliga match. ” DFB referees’ spokesman Alex Feuerherdt then fired back and, as a final blow, nearly guaranteed that Díaz will still get a suspension for his red card.

“Maybe his opinion was influenced by the fact that the majority of the decisions went against FC Bayern. But we are by no means talking about scandalous errors here,” Feuerherdt explained, as captured by @iMiaSanMia . “The second yellow card was a factual decision by the referee.