Monaco's Kamil Glik has admitted he should have been sent off for stamping on Juventus striker Gonzalo Higuain in their Champions League tie on Tuesday.
Higuain, who had scored both goals in Juve's 2-0 first-leg win six days earlier, needed extensive treatment after Glik deliberately stood on the Argentina international's thigh in the second half of Juve's 2-1 second-leg triumph.
Glik escaped sanction from referee Bjorn Kuipers, with the Dutch official booking Leonardo Bonucci for protesting too vociferously, but defender acknowledged to media he could have had few complaints if he had been shown a red card.
"Yes, I should have been sent off," the Poland international is quoted as saying by L'Equipe. "I did a really nasty foul that wasn't justified,
"It's a football match. There can be incidents like that with fouls. We didn't speak, we didn't see each other [after the game]. I talked with other Juve players, but I didn't see him. I didn't have another opportunity to talk to him."
Ironically, Juve coach Massimiliano Allegri was grateful to Glik, who played for Juve's neighbours and bitter rivals Torino between 2011 and 2016, for the foul as he felt it brought his players back to life after they had looked a little complacent.
"We have to thank Glik, because it happened at a time when we were almost sleeping," said Allegri, who had seen Kylian Mbappe pull one back just before the incident. "We were a little too convinced to have already won and we conceded a goal. Glik's foul woke us up and we suffered less afterwards."
Glik had published on social media a picture of himself tackling Juve's Emanuele Giaccherini during a Turin derby prior to the semifinal tie this week, which he has since deleted.
UEFA could still punish the centre-back should their disciplinary body decide to review the incident.