Europa League: The Hilarious Moment Player Tries to High Five Ref but Gets Sent Off

Europa League: The Hilarious Moment Player Tries to High Five Ref but Gets Sent Off

Rene Otinga
updated at March 15, 2024 at 11:24 AM
In this article:
UEFA Europa League logo
UEFA Europa League
Europe
Bayer Leverkusen logo
Bayer Leverkusen
Germany
34
Qarabag logo
Qarabag
Azerbaijan
28
  • A Qarabag player was caught in a hilarious gaffe on Thursday, March 15
  • The player attempted to high-five a referee, only to get his marching orders
  • Bayer Leverkusen avoided defeat again thanks to two late Patrick Schick goals

German giants Bayer Leverkusen advanced to the Europa League last eight thanks to a dramatic 3-2 win over Qarabag on Thursday night in a game marked with a hilarious incident.

Despite Xabi Alonso’s side extending their unbeaten run to 37 games through some late heroics from Patrick Schick, that was arguably not the most memorable part of the last 16 encounter.

Elvin Jafarguliyev received a red card during Bayer Leverkusen vs Qarabag.
Elvin Jafarguliyev was sent off moments after he thought he only received a yellow card. Photo by Alex Grimm.
Source: Getty Images

That spot was reserved for an incident involving Qarabag player Elvin Cafarguliyev, who got sent off by the referee in comical fashion.

Footage of the 64th-minute incident has gone viral as Cafarguliyev received a yellow card from English referee Anthony Taylor for what looked like a last-man tackle.

However, Taylor amended his initial decision after review from VAR, and as Cafarguliyev attempted to high-five the match official for the yellow card, he got a shocker as a red was brandished instead.

The awkward incident was so comical that it left the commentator in stitches.

At the time, the Azerbaijani side was leading 1-0 through Abdellah Zoubir’s goal and despite Cafarguliyev’s red card, Juninho made it 2-0 in the 67th minute.

Leverkusen’s comeback

Xabi Alonso’s side have developed a knack of avoiding defeats even during difficult games, and this proved to be the case once again as Jeremie Frimpong volleyed home a crucial goal eight minutes after Cafarguliyev’s red card to get his side back in the game, per BBC.

Czech Republic forward Schick then connected with Alex Grimaldo's cross to level matters on aggregate, and there was still time for an extra twist.

In the seventh minute of added time, Exequiel Palacios' cross was met by Schick’ head as the forward scored his second of the day to send the home crowd into delirium.

Europa League’s last 8

Sports Brief also reported on the teams that are in the Europa League quarter finals.

Bayer Leverkusen will be joined by some big clubs, including Liverpool, who completely destroyed Sparta Prague on aggregate.

West Ham, Atalanta and Serie A giants AC Milan are also in the quarters.

Authors
Rene Otinga photo
Rene Otinga
Rene Otinga is a sports journalist with over eight years of working experience in digital media. Rene's experience includes working as a Copywriter at X News Kenya and TUKO.co.ke.