Ibrahimovic commented on the incident where Hernandez was sent off and said:
“We are disappointed and angry. I think that maturity was lacking. As for Theo’s second yellow card, the referee was harsh. For a dive in a game like this, at least give a verbal warning before picking up the card. The match changed."
“When these situations happen, you can’t say if it’s right or wrong. I don’t think Theo is an actor, he plays his game and tries to do the best he can. These things happen on the pitch, he doesn’t look for it.”
But Laudrup and Elkjaer agreed that Zlatan never should have defended Hernandez for his action. After listening to Zlatan's reaction, Laudrup said to Viaplay: "Zlatan doesn't think Theo is an actor, and he doesn't think Theo goes looking for those kinds of situations, but he (Theo) did today. I don't get it, there is no consequence at all for leaving your teammates one man down for forty minutes in such an important match. You can't just make excuses for that."
Elkjaer backed up his former colleague in the Danish national team and said: "
"Zlatan behaves more like an ex-footballer than a member of management. This is inexcusable. We are talking about 11 million EURO they miss out on to advance in the tournament. It is serious that you sell out your club in this way and as part of management, you have to stand up and say that this is too unprofessional and we cannot accept that. You shouldn't defend a player who clearly doesn't think at all about what he is doing in that situation and and he needs to know that."