Bayer 04 Leverkusen captain Robert Andrich has cleared the air about the physical altercation involving Nathan Tella in their loss to FC Augsburg, Soccernet.ng reports.
Die Werkself came into the game high off a win over Borussia Dortmund in the DFB Pokal, but they were stunned at the WWK Arena on Saturday.
Dimitrios Giannoulis and Anton Kade found the back of the net for the home side before the half-hour mark, and Augsburg decided to hang on to their lead from there on in.
Nathan Tella came off the bench in the 61st minute to help Kasper Hjulmand’s men get back into the game, but he did the latter.
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Nathan Tella’s altercation in Leverkusen’s clash against Augsburg
The ex-Southampton attacker missed a chance to pull a goal back in the 75th minute. The ball fell kindly to him in front of Finn Dahmen’s goal, but the 26-year-old fumbled the chance.
“That was indicative of us taking the ball off the line,” captain Robert Andrich said about Tella’s missed chance after the game in an interview with BILD.
The German defensive midfielder was taking Tella out of an altercation two minutes later.
Augsburg’s Kristijan Jakic had his arm in the face of Leverkusen’s Malik Tillman. The situation turned into chaos almost immediately, and Tella pushed Jakic off.
Andrich stepped in, pulled away his teammate and loudly gave him instructions, although the two players involved in the scenario were cautioned.
“We tried to solve it too much about the playfulness, rather than maybe getting over the hardship first – and in that order, it usually never works,” Andrich explained.
“Augsburg has earned the victory and deserved it accordingly. They had a foot in the box again and again, repeatedly blocking a ball.
“That was just too few of us overall in terms of this, also in terms of going into duels.”
Leverkusen’s Managing Director, Simon Rolfes, had no problem with what happened between Tella and Andrich.
“I did this as a captain and pulled fellow players out of the hustle and bustle to save them from stupidity,” the 43-year-old revealed.
Die Werkself take on Newcastle United in the UEFA Champions League at the Bay Arena on Wednesday, and that could be Tella’s final action for Leverkusen before heading out for AFCON duties with the Super Eagles of Nigeria.