Levante experienced a night of disappointment in the first round of Women’s Champions League qualification after losing (3-2) a game that seemed to be in control 0-2 against Twente. However, what inspired the game the most was not the loss itself, but a controversial action that marked a major turning point in the game.
The Levante players led the score by two goals when Twente started a game that created controversy in the world of football. This was the moment when the Dutch players, in a gesture of supposed sportsmanship, returned the ball to Levante after the stoppage due to an injury to one of their players.
What happened next shocked many. Twente’s Renate Jansen took advantage of the opportunity and, in a controversial decision, decided to shoot on goal when Levante players, Antonia and Silvia Lloris, passed the ball to be collected by Levante’s goalkeeper Emma Holmgren. The result was a goal that changed the course of the game, in the face of open protests from the Spanish team players.
The behavior of the Twente players in this action did not go unnoticed, and many described the game as “unsporting.” The coach of Levante, Sánchez Vera, quickly expressed his dissatisfaction with what happened. In his remarks after the game, he noted: “A ball that we threw because of an injury, which Twente returned to us badly, we stayed looking and they shot from the midfield.”
Despite this controversy, Levante ended up being relegated and unable to play in the tournament that all players dream of: the Women’s Champions League.
