UNITED’S NIGHTMARE EUROPA DRAW:
DELE ALLI is facing an extended ban from European games for the horror tackle that saw him sent off at Wembley on Thursday.
The 20-year-old midfielder received the first straight red card of his career when he landed a knee-high, studs- up challenge on Gent’s Brecht Dejaegere.
Alli is fast developing a reputation for his antics after a string of offences, including being given a retrospective three-match ban for punching West Bromwich Albion’s Claudio Yacob in the stomach in a Premier League match last year.
Straight red cards only guarantee a one-match ban under UEFA rules, but the governing body are set to review Alli’s case and it is expected to be increased to at least three matches.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic and John Terry have each had initial one-match suspensions increased to three by UEFA, while in 2007 Benfica’s Augustin Binya was banned for six games when his challenge on Celtic’s Scott Brown — similar in severity to Alli’s — was investigated.
Alli apologised to his team-mates after his 39th- minute dismissal made their task of progressing in the Europa League more difficult. They eventually drew 2- 2 against the Belgians, s, and were eliminated d 3-2 on aggregate.
The midfielder’s team-mates, however, have rallied around him. Striker Harry Kane said: ‘ He is obviously gutted. Dele willl learn from this. In European footballall with tackles like that you are more likely to get a red card.
‘He feels like he has let us down. But Dele has been great for us this season. It is something he will learn from and get experience from for the future. We fought hard to turn the game around for him.’
Defender Toby Alderweireld said: ‘He said sorry. He didn’t mean to get sent off. Two seconds before someone made a foul on him and he reacted. He is young and I know 100 per cent that he didn’t mean it.’
Gent midfielder Dejaegere said: ‘Someone showed me the image at half-time and my heart was thumping for a few seconds. I also felt pain in my knee. It could have been much worse, but I don’t think he meant it and he came to apologise himself.’
Meanwhile, Spurs have confirmed that midfielder Nabil Bentaleb has completed his £16million move to Schalke.