Switzerland were on the hunt for their second consecutive giant killing in the Euro 2020 quarter-finals on Friday night.

Switzerland vs Spain

Almost nobody expected the Swiss team to make the quarter-finals when they drew France in the second round but alas, football wouldn't be football without some shocks along the way.

A brace from Haris Seferović and dramatic late equaliser by Mario Gavranović took Les Bleus all the way to penalties where Kylian Mbappe's shootout miss ultimately saw Switzerland bag the win.

That booked themselves a place in the final eight against Spain where they similarly gave a brilliant account of themselves despite trailing 1-0 in the early exchanges due to Denis Zakaria's own goal.

Switzerland vs Spain Match Reaction | Euro 2020 (Football Terrace)

Controversial red card for Freuler

And the Swiss found themselves on level terms when they made the most of a Spanish mix-up involving Aymeric Laporte with Xherdan Shaqiri applying with the finishing touch past Unai Simon.

However, all their hard work was almost undone when Remo Freuler was dismissed for what many considered be a tackle more befitting of a yellow card instead of a red.

There's no denying that Freuler put plenty of force behind his challenge on Gerard Moreno, but whether or not there was any malice behind the lunge is another question. Check it out below:

Football fans are seething

Controversial, right? Well, the reaction on Twitter would certainly suggest so because despite Peter Walton backing the decision, countless supporters deemed it to be a brutal call across social media.

One fan wrote: "If that’s a red card then we should all pack up and go home. The games gone."

Another fan penned: "What a pathetic decision. Never a red card!"

[gmsStartingEleven url="https://givemesport.starting11.co.uk/2019-09-05/"]

While a third tweeted: "The Swiss are being robbed, how the hell was that a red card?!"

A fourth posted: "That's not a straight red card challenge. It should have been a yellow. But I didn't expect much else from a Premier League referee with PL VAR crew in charge."

Even Gary Lineker waded into the debate - seemingly referencing the controversial red card from the Sweden vs Ukraine clash - by ominously tweeting: "Another red card for virtually nothing."

However, like it or not, the decision of the Premier League-headed officials was final and no number of dismayed tweets could have brought Freuler back on to the pitch to fight for the Swiss cause.

But even going down to ten men did little to stunt their underdog charge through Euro 2020 with Vladimir Petković's men surviving long enough to earn themselves an extra 30 minutes.