Kucher hangs on to unwanted Champions League record for another season

Nick Watkins - Writer 15:44 07/06/2018
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  • Seeing red: Olexandr Kucher

    Another Champions League season over means another year Olexandr Kucher hangs on to his unwanted record. It was back in March 2015 when Shakhtar Donetsk faced the daunting task of facing in-form Bayern Munich in their Round of 16 second leg tie, that the defender went into the history books.

    The Ukrainian side were still well in the tie going into the game having held the German giants to a 0-0 draw in the first leg, however, Donetsk’s hopes of advancing to the quarter-finals were dealt a huge blow just three minutes into the match.

    The home side were on the attack from the off and when Mario Gotze burst into the penalty box, Kucher opted to slide in and inevitably upended the German, leaving the referee little choice but to point to the spot and produce the red card. To make matters worse, Muller calmly converted from the spot giving the home side the perfect start.

    Shakhtar knew it was going to be a long night from that point on with Bayern enjoying 79% possession in the first half as well as peppering the visitors with 15 shots in the opening 45 minutes.

    The Bundesliga champions had not lost at home since losing to Real Madrid in the previous season’s semi-final and they were on the hunt for more goals – Jerome Boateng added a second for the home side before half time.

    Going down: Mario Gotze gets taken down

    Going down: Mario Gotze gets taken down

    Soon after the break Franck Ribery drilled the ball home from the far post and just minutes later Muller fired in his second of the night after more good work from the winger.

    Badstuber’s powerful header, Lewandowski’s 18-yard strike and Gotze’s neat finish from an angle completed a 7-0 rout for Pep Guardiola’s men.

    Prior to Kucher’s dismissal, Craig Bellamy was the previous record holder for the quickest Champions League red card. The Welshman saw red after five minutes when playing for Newcastle against Inter Milan in 2002.

    Octo Finissimo Automatic A Third World Record for Bulgari

    Bulgari is once again the spotlight, proudly presenting its third successive world record.

    The Octo Finissimo Automatic is the slimmest ultra-thin self-winding watch on the market to date.

    After introducing its Tourbillon in 2014 and the Minute Repeater in 2016, the Maison unveils its new creation featuring a total thickness of just 5.15mm, while its self-winding movement is just 2.23mm thick for a 40mm diameter.

    The iconic Octo is once again pushing the boundaries of watchmaking feasibility.

    Bulgari-Finissimo-Octo-3 (1) Bulgari-Finissimo-Octo-5

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