Unbelievable! Maxim Lapierre hits Bern's Thomas Rüfenacht in the face twice. But all he has left for it is a smile.
In a good mood, but with a scratch on his face, Thomas Rüfenacht appears in the SCB media room after the 4-1 win against Lugano. "I don't know what I look like. I haven't looked in the mirror yet," the forward reacts just as coolly as he did in the duel with Maxim Lapierre.
Five minutes before the end, the two provocateurs clash. Lapierre hits Rüfenacht twice in the face with his fist. But the Bernese player doesn't return the fight, just grins dirty at his opponent. He seems surprised that nothing comes back.
"It's not easy to take a punch. Deep down, you want to hit back," says Rüfenacht. "But we've agreed to keep our nerve in situations like this." Instead of using his fists, "Rüfi" responds with words. "I asked Lapierre how his family was doing."
There were skirmishes in the second duel. Rüfenacht pulled the Canadian up from the players' bench because he had been knocked over by the 18 centimetres shorter Ryan Lasch. The Bernese player was handed a ten-minute penalty and felt cheated. This time, only Lapierre was sent off. "Chapeau that the referees have now seen it right."
"We were never friends"
The 32-year-old doesn't want to talk badly about his opponent, but says: "We were never friends and never will be." The fact that Lapierre, currently Lugano's strongest foreigner, ended up dealing was something he had expected. "We would have done the same. It's about pride. For a long time it was a feeling-out process. Now emotions and tension have risen. That's the great thing. Everyone wants to see it."
Incidentally, Rüfenacht was still taken for a ride. The man who wants to force his way into the World Cup says he scored not two, but three goals. "I deflected Ebbett's 2:0. I apologized to him straight away." However, this cannot be seen on the video, which is why Ebbett remains the official scorer.
PS: No proceedings will be opened against SCB-Scherwey after his check against Ulmer. He is allowed to play on Tuesday.
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