🤬 Absolutely ridiculous and a joke: Düsseldorf fume after 5-1 thrashing

Fortuna Düsseldorf had certainly imagined the start of the season very differently. Instead, they suffered a 1:5 thrashing at Bielefeld’s Alm, with referee Patrick Alt repeatedly taking center stage. 

The main topic of the evening was the sending off of Tim Oberdorf. After a slight tug on the shirt of his opponent Joel Grodowski, the referee showed the already-booked Düsseldorf player the yellow-red card and he had to leave the field. 

 "That is absolutely ridiculous. The first yellow card—you have to live with that. I can understand that and it fit the line up to that point," said Fortuna boss Klaus Allofs during halftime on 'RTL'. In the first half, Alt had handed out yellow cards quickly. "But then to give a yellow-red for that is absolutely ridiculous. I believe it was the wrong decision," Allofs added. 

Oberdorf also commented on the yellow-red card after the match, showing self-criticism and defending the referee. "That shouldn’t happen to me at all, that I put myself in that situation and a challenge even arises in which the referee feels compelled to give a second yellow card," said the defender (quote via 'Bild').

However, he also believed that a different decision could have been made in that scene: "Still, I think there was hardly any challenge at all, I touched him with my hand, but didn’t really grab." But since he had caused the situation, it was his responsibility. 

Allofs, in turn, followed up after the game in a conversation with 'Sky'. "When you lose 5:1, you should really keep your mouth shut," said Allofs, "but what was refereed here today was a catastrophe."

📸 Thomas F. Starke - 2025 Getty Images

The handball penalty awarded against Fortuna after the break also sparked debate. Sotiris Alexandropoulos first got the ball on his thigh, then on his arm. Since his arm was already outstretched, VAR did not intervene. 

On 'X', the club couldn’t understand the decision even during the game: "VAR still on vacation?!"

Jetzt gibt er auch noch Handelfmeter für Bielefeld. Der Ball prallt von Sotos Oberschenkel an die Hand...
VAR noch im Urlaub?!
Kania mit dem 2:1.#f95 | 🔴⚪️ | #DSCF95 (54.) pic.twitter.com/qtYuF4gvjw

— Fortuna Düsseldorf (@f95) August 2, 2025

Florian Kastenmeier initially didn’t want to comment on the referee’s performance. "I can’t be bothered. Otherwise I’ll have to issue another statement tomorrow," said the goalkeeper on 'Sky'. But when he saw the foul that led to the yellow-red card, he couldn’t hold back: "That’s a joke."

It wasn’t just Fortuna who were angry; Sky expert Torsten Mattuschka also raged about the penalty. "For the sake of football, that’s a catastrophe. This interpretation, saying: The arm was already outstretched. Someone show me how you’re supposed to go into a tackle without having your arm like that. I’ll run a tackling workshop. There’s no other way." Mattuschka described the referee’s performance as "catastrophic". 

The long stoppage time of 10 minutes also caused confusion. Fortuna themselves took it with a pinch of gallows humor on 'X'. 

Nachspielzeit: 10 Minuten.#f95 | 🔴⚪️ | #DSCF95 (90.) https://t.co/phl1bVTpD7pic.twitter.com/8XfqsPFwb7

— Fortuna Düsseldorf (@f95) August 2, 2025

"I’m unhappy with the whole evening. But that shouldn’t detract from Arminia’s great performance. There are still 33 matchdays to go. We’ll recover from this and start the season next week," summarized coach Daniel Thiounen (quote via 'Rheinische Post'). 

Can you understand Fortuna Düsseldorf’s frustration? Feel free to share your opinion in the comments. 

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.

📸 Thomas F. Starke - 2025 Getty Images