Club Brugge head coach, Nicky Hayen, has revealed the aftermath of the club’s meeting with Super Eagles midfielder, Raphael Onyedika, following his red card debacle against AC Milan, Soccernet.ng reports.
The 23-year-old was given his marching orders in Club Brugge’s 1-3 loss to AC Milan at the San Siro with five minutes left until the halftime break. The Nigerian midfielder delved into a tackle that nearly snapped the ankle of Dutch midfielder, Tijjani Reijnders.
The red card was Onyedika’s second in four games, and his coach revealed the team will look for a way to help him manage his tackles better going forward.
In an interview with Belgian outlet, Het Nieuwsbald, the 44-year-old revealed he had a constructive conversation with Onyedika about how things will be moving forward.
“A constructive conversation. There are things that need to be resolved very urgently. We hope that it will work out. Rapha also asked to train on his day off. So the eagerness is there and we like to see that.
We have offered him solutions and made it clear that he does not always have to go into an all-or-nothing duel at certain times. He is already an impressive guy, he does not always need that.”
As a result of the red card, Onyedika stands a chance of missing Club Brugge’s next three UEFA Champions League games, but the punishment is yet to be confirmed. Nonetheless, he’ll miss their next game against Aston Villa on Wednesday, November 6th.