REFEREE Ruddy Buquet astonished fans, players and commentators alike as he bafflingly sent Metz star Georges Mikautadze off last night.

The Ligue 1 relegation strugglers were in action against Rennes at Stade Saint-Symphorien.

Metz trailed 3-2 in the closing stages, after Arnaud Kalimuendo's 93rd minute goal for the visitors.

Things then went from bad to worse for Laszlo Boloni's side, as talisman Mikautadze was shown a straight red card in the 96th minute.

Replays clearly showed that the Georgian and Kalimendo had innocuously bumped into each other, with the latter going down theatrically.

Mikautadze made his way down the tunnel, only for VAR to instruct Buquet to take another look on the pitchside monitor.

The 47-year-old was then shown the incident a number of times, with an expectation that common sense would prevail and the decision would be overturned.

Mikautadze, 23, clearly expected to be allowed to return, and attempted to make his way back onto the pitch.

Incredibly he was stopped by the fourth official, with Buquet doubling down and sticking to his baffling decision.

Metz went on to lose the crucial match 3-2 to leave them 16th, in Ligue 1's relegation play-off zone, and just three points above the automatic drop.

Mikautadze's controversial red card will now see him ruled out for Metz's pivotal last two matches, if it is not overturned by the LFP.

Boloni, who gave Cristiano Ronaldo his senior debut for Sporting Lisbon more than 20 years ago, will take his team to Strasbourg next time out, before finishing their campaign by hosting Paris Saint-Germain.

Metz's veteran boss, 71, was furious with the officiating after the match.

His side had twice led through goals by Mikautadze and Papa Amadou Diallo, before being pegged back by an Amine Gouiri effort and a penalty by Benjamin Bourigeaud.

I don't know whether to scream, cry, laugh...

Laszlo Boloni

On the referee's performance, Boloni blasted: "The penalty almost completely changes the course of the match.

"The icing on the cake is the expulsion of Mikautadze. I don't know whether to scream, cry, laugh… I can't comment. It's incommentable. No comment.

"I only ask myself one question. Am I really ready to talk to really tell you what I feel?

"Because if I do that, I live not far away, I immediately buy a ticket to go to the disciplinary committee and they will be right, because there is always a sentence or a word of interpretation by which some are more equal than equals, wiser than the wise, have more rights than… there you go."

The TNT Sports commentator in the UK was also stunned.

As the incident was being checked, he said: "Kalimuendo if anything deserves a yellow card for that.

"Let's hope the call is right. Let's hope he gets called back in and scores a late goal! He just stood there."

'VAR has broken match officials’ minds'

Fans watching on at home were left scratching their heads.

One wrote on social media: "VAR has broken match officials’ minds."

While a second blasted: "That’s the worst sending off I’ve ever seen."

A third claimed: "Referee shouldn’t referee again if he thinks that is a red card."

And another added: "Seems like VAR is broken all over Europe.."

Mikautadze scored 23 goals as Metz were promoted from Ligue 2 last season.

He subsequently signed for Ajax in a deal worth around £14million.

After failing to make an impact in Amsterdam amid Ajax's shambolic season, Mikautadze returned to Metz on loan in January.

His comeback has been a roaring success, with the forward having notched 12 goals in 18 Ligue 1 appearances.

Should the LFP fail to overturn his red card, however, his stint back at Metz will be over.