"They told me it wasn't my fault and that it was a refereeing error." That's what Eduardo Camavinga heard from his Real Madrid teammates after the red card that effectively ended Los Blancos' Champions League run against Bayern Munich — and he's finally talking about it.
In his first public comments on the incident, the French midfielder told Canal+ Foot's Olivier Dacourt that the sending-off left him with "a bad memory" and hit him harder than he let on at the time. The club messaged him the next day to reinforce the same message. Even Kylian Mbappé showed up that Monday morning and wrapped him in a hug.
"He saw me and said we were surviving," Camavinga recalled with a laugh. "I felt Mbappé had empathy — and experience with criticism." A telling line from a player who knows exactly what it's like to be public enemy number one after a high-stakes match.
"Life is better without social media"
The backlash after Munich clearly stung. Camavinga didn't pretend otherwise.
"After everything that was being said, I didn't think it was necessary to keep looking," he said. "I think life is better without social media. Football is ungrateful. You can play ten great matches, but people only remember the one bad game where you make a mistake."
That's not spin. That's someone who went through it. And given the scale of the collapse that followed that red card — Real Madrid unable to hold on without him — the criticism he faced online was predictably savage.
World Cup place now in question
The timing of all this matters beyond the personal. Camavinga has had an inconsistent season at Real Madrid by his own standards, and the Champions League exit added a dark exclamation mark to it. France's World Cup squad selection is now a genuine concern — for a player of his ability, that's a significant fall from where he was 18 months ago.
Anyone backing France's midfield depth as a strength heading into the tournament might want to factor in that Camavinga's form and status are very much unsettled right now. He remains talented enough to force his way back into Deschamps' plans, but the window is closing and the competition for spots is fierce.
"I accepted it as a mistake. It's part of a player's life," he said. That's the right attitude. Whether it translates into a strong finish to the season — and a place on the plane — is another question entirely.
