Hummels: ‘Worst mistake of my career, single-handedly knocked Roma out’ | OneFootball

Mats Hummels admits the red card for Roma’s Europa League exit to Athletic Club was ‘the biggest mistake of my career’ and he feels that he ‘single-handedly knocked my team out.’

The defender had been dropped for several games in a row by Claudio Ranieri to regain fitness and form, but just 10 minutes into a rare start in Bilbao, he first gave the ball away cheaply, then brought down the attacking player for a red card.

Roma had won the first leg 2-1, but were eliminated after losing 3-1 when down to 10 men for practically the whole match.

Hummels distraught after costly Roma red card

UDINE, ITALY – JANUARY 26: Mats Hummels of AS Roma looks on during the Serie A match between Udinese and AS Roma at Stadio Friuli on January 26, 2025 in Udine, Italy. (Photo by Alessandro Sabattini/Getty Images)

“I fear it might be the biggest mistake of my career,” said Hummels during his podcast, ‘Alleine ist schwer.’

“I remember circa four similar errors, also pretty stupid ones, but they often ended well. I remember one against Real Madrid in the 2013 Champions League semi-final, but then we went on to win 4-1, so it didn’t weigh on me as much.

“That time, I didn’t single-handedly knock my team out of the competition. Seeing the video, it looked even worse, it was so obvious I shouldn’t have made that pass in the first place.”

Following the red card, Hummels sat in the Roma locker room in the depths of the San Mames and watched the rest of the match on television.

“It was truly awful sitting there and just hoping all through the game that they’d make it. You know that all your teammates have to run extra hard now, and it’s all your fault. Everyone out there is suffering and you are to blame.

“The days after the match, I felt horrible.”

However, Hummels also reveals that his Roma teammates and coach Ranieri did not hold the incident against him, especially after viewing the footage again and wondering if it was a harsh decision to go for the straight red card.

“The support of the club was important, and I rarely experienced such a good reaction from a team to something like that.

“However, in my view, it was not a red card offence, because it was only a few metres inside our own half.

“I was very surprised by the fact I was shown a straight red card. If the referee had given a yellow, I don’t think VAR would’ve overturned that decision.”