The playoffs have started, the importance of the games as we move towards the end στοιχεία elements such as passion, intensity, hard markings and so on grow. are certainly expected.
However, some people overdid it in the 1st match of the second phase, with the result that after only three matches, the record of dismissals for this year's championship has been equalized.
Joan Trujillos, Nico Varela and Martinos Christofi are so far the negative protagonists of the playoff premiere, and all three were sent off with a direct red card, which was fully justified – the one for a repressive action (which is expected to result in a “devastating” punishment. ) as he spat at the opponent and the other two for very hard fouls, with the “corks”.
A common element (apart from unsportsmanlike conduct) is that they all left their team with a player less than the first half hour of the match (none of the three won).
The beginning was made by the (worst of the three) Joan Trujillos , on Friday, in the AEL-AEK derby, which opened the curtain of the first group and the second phase in general. In the 18th minute and after a hard foul on Antoniou, the Spaniard spat at Zdrafkovski, with the result that after the yellow card (for the foul) he also saw a red card within a couple of seconds. It is noted that initially it was reported that the miscarriage was for a gesture but then it was clarified by ref Nikolas Neokleous that it was a spitting.
Nikos Varela continued the abortions in the first match on Saturday, who in the 7th minute of the match between Nea Salamina and the Union in “Famagusta”, committed a very hard foul on Theodorou, with the “grill” of his shoe, risking even to break his opponent's leg. Referee Vassilis Dimitriou initially did not dismiss the Uruguayan midfielder, but was informed of his mistake by VAR Timotheos Christofis and showed the red card after examining the phase in the on-field review.
Third in the group was a Cypriot, Martinos Christofi , who in the 25th minute of the match between Doxa and Hermes in Makareio, played very dangerously, committing a foul on Russia similar to the one above Varelas. In this case, too, the referee, who was Kyriakos Christodoulou, did not initially show a red card (he got a yellow card), but after the intervention of VAR, Loukas Sotiriou, saw the phase on the monitor and then sent off Doxa's defender.
