Zenit Midfielder Leandro Paredes Accused Of Getting Deliberately Sent Off In Order To Fly Home And Attend ‘Superclasico’ Final Between Boca Juniors And River Plate

Chris Wright

6th, November 2018

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Zenit St Petersburg midfielder Leandro Paredes is catching a fair bit of flak after getting sent-off in the Russian side’s league game against Akhmat Grozny on Sunday evening.

Parades picked up a booking in the 69th minute of Zenit’s 1-0 win before swiftly earning himself a second caution for aiming a petulant swipe at Grozny’s Ravenelli Ferreira less than 15 minutes later.

Coincidentally, the Argentinian will now be suspended for this coming weekend’s trip to CSKA Moscow meaning that, should he wish to do so, he’ll be able to fly home and attend the first leg of the Copa Libertadores final between his boyhood club Boca Juniors and their cross-city rivals River Plate.

Funnily enough, several Zenit fans have joined the dots and concluded that Paredes might have intentionally sought a second yellow card toward the end of their game in a bid to free himself up.

Perish the very thought.

While the Russian football authorities have levelled no such suggestion, according to Football Italia, a number of supporters have accused the 24-year-old of exactly that in angry messages posted on social media.

Even if Paredes was intending to travel back to Buenos Aires as speculated, he’s probably best advised not to show his face on camera at La Bombonera on Sunday night now – lest somebody take offence and burn his house to the ground, for example.

Posted in International football, South America

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