Real Madrid coach Pau Quesada admitted he could have been sent off for his protests after a dramatic late goal -- which would have given his team a 2-1 Champions League win away at Manchester City -- was disallowed on Thursday.
Madrid full-back Silvia Cristóbal had the ball in the net in the 89th minute, but the referee had already blown her whistle moments earlier after she collided with City's Beth Mead, and prevented Mead from challenging for the ball.
Quesada and the Madrid bench reacted furiously to the decision, which saw the game end 1-1, leaving the visitors on two points from two UWCL games, level with City in the league phase table.
"They could have sent me off, the way I protested," Quesada told ESPN afterwards. "It was enough for them to have sent me off."
City, last season's WSL champions, are enjoying an impressive start to the season domestically -- with maximum points after four games -- but have now been held to draws in both their Champions League matches so far.
Madrid are looking to improve on their last two European campaigns this season, having been eliminated in the quarterfinals in 2025 and 2026.
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"It's hard for me to understand why [the referee] blew [the whistle] first," Quesada told ESPN. "She could have waited for the goal, and then for the VAR to intervene.
"A lot of us work a lot of hours on this. You let the move finish, you go to the VAR and you check it... We have to progress and professionalise more, so that these things don't happen.
"I think they [the officials] had doubts. They knew they should have waited. [The decision] surprised them too, because if not, they'd have sent me off."