Everyone in Europe and Asia (and probably Africa) seems to have an opinion on this, and for a couple of days now they have been asking each other what they think about it — to see how vehemently they agree.

“It” being the red card shown to Nani of Manchester United in the Champions League match late Tuesday night.

The positions range from “travesty of a mockery of a sham and probably a conspiracy, too” … to “could have gone either way, I guess.” The former being the opinion of the Manchester United faithful/deranged and the latter being that of sober people with no emotional stake in the game.

The situation:

Manchester United had scored (on an own goal) to take a 1-0 lead in the game and, more importantly, a 2-1 aggregate edge in their home-and-home series with Real Madrid.

In the 56th minute, Nani, born in Cape Verde and a Portugal citizen, was heading away from the goal as he chased a high ball. He raised his foot about five feet off the ground, and Real’s Alvaro Arbeola was struck in the chest.

Red card, from the Turkish referee, Cuneyt Cakir. Dangerous play.

It seemed likely that Nani was not aware how close Arbeola was, but whether that should be held against him was debated by Al Jazeera’s British pundits, post-match. I am fairly sure I heard them on both sides of the question — red card because he didn’t look, no red card because he didn’t look. The discussion didn’t exactly clarify the situation.

Anyway, United fans were fixated on the red card even while they still led.

And then Madrid got a goal from Luka Modric (in the 66th minute) and one from Cristiano Ronaldo (in the 69th), and won 2-1, and 3-2 on aggregate — and it really was all about the red card. Or so they would have you believe.

However, teams have been known to play out 34 minutes (or, say, 53 minutes) with 10 men and succeed. Even against great teams. (See: Barcelona v Chelsea, Champions League semifinals, 2012.) That never seems to come up, among United fans.

For purposes of discussion, let’s say the red card was a crime against soccer. Against humanity. OK.

It wasn’t a death sentence. The game was not over. Madrid still needed one goal to send the game to extra time, and two to win.

Let’s further stipulate that Modric’s goal was a very fine goal, but he might have scored that one against 11. He probably would have.

And even after that, United wasn’t done. The possibility of victory via shootout was still there.

However, the United defender Rafael committed the tactical crime of losing track of Cristiano Ronaldo, and the Madrid man poked in a cross — because Rafael was unaware he had Ronaldo behind him, closing in on goal.

Anyway. Stuff like this happens in soccer. It is not a game with instant replay or challenges, a la American football. And United certainly has been benefited from a curious decision or two in the previous couple of decades.

So, let it go. Or at least stop yammering about it.