PSG Owner Accuses Referee Of Helping Madrid
TV pundit Michael Owen has slammed Gianluca Rocchi, the official at the Bernabeu, for not sending off Neymar for a second bookable offence after he was assumed to have dived.
But instead of applauding the referee’s decision, a furious Al Khelaifi hit out at Rocchi, claiming his decisions and judgement on the pitch helped Los Blancos turn the tie around.
‘The result was not just,’ the PSG owner told BeIn Sports. ‘I think we played better in the second half, we had our chances to score, but we made mistakes’.
‘(Kylian) Mbappe was called offside by an offside game that was not. The referee’s mistakes cost us. The referee has helped Madrid.’
There were a couple of contentious issues at which the Parisians feel aggrieved. Firstly, Giovani Lo Celso’s challenge on Toni Kroos which brought about the first penalty.
Then Adrien Rabiot, the scorer of PSG’s goal, struck a shot which appeared to cannon into Sergio Ramos’s arm – but a penalty was not awarded.
And Unai Emery, manager of the Ligue 1 giants, also claimed there was an imbalance when it came to how the game was officiated.
‘He has made decisions that have clearly harmed us,’ Emery told BeIn Sports.
‘He repeatedly give decisions to Real Madrid, we saw it in the cards and fouls. The penalty is not clear and the hand of Ramos tell me that it is not a penalty. The criteria was not the same.’
