José Luis Gayà lamented the sending off of Rodrigo and the way it changed the game against Osasuna, in an interview with Spanish TV channel Movistar+ LaLiga shortly after the 3-1 defeat.

“I’ve just seen it replayed several times now, and for me it isn’t an incident worthy of a red card,” insisted the fullback.

“He’s falling. I don’t see any way that the referee can interpret that there was intent, and I don’t know why it wasn’t reviewed. In the end, it was an accident, it made things very difficult and afterwards Osasuna were able to send in a lot of crosses from the wings.”

Gayà did not put the loss solely down to the impact of the sending off, however.

“We had to keep trying. We didn’t have to consider the game lost when a man down, and we had a few chances, but going down to 10 men at this ground is very difficult; Osasuna haven’t lost here in 1.5 years.”

“It isn’t an excuse, as we have to improve in defence -especially away from home. We have no other option than to pick ourselves back up, as on Wednesday we have another final against Sevilla FC. We need to win, and to face the game with that mentality,” he commented, with the focus now on Matchday 11.