Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) had a forgettable outing against Manchester City in the second leg of the UEFA Champions League 2020-21 semi-finals. Already trailing 1-2 on aggregate, the French side lost the second leg 2-0 and got knocked out of Europe’s premier competition. However, the loss wasn’t the only reason why PSG players were in dismay after the encounter. PSG stars Ander Herrera, and Marco Verratti accused referee Bjorn Kuipers of swearing at their team’s players. Verratti alleged he was sworn at by Kuipers, while Herrera claimed that the Dutch official verbally abused his teammate Leandro Paredes at the Etihad Stadium. Manchester City 2-0 PSG, UCL 2020-21: Riyad Mahrez’s Brace Guides Pep Guardiola’s Team To First-Ever Champions League Final (Watch Highlights).
Notably, Kuipers sent off PSG’s Angel Di Maria in the second half for an off-the-ball stamp on City midfielder Fernandinho. Maria’s ouster meant PSG couldn’t make a comeback, and the Premier League leaders walked away with a comfortable win. After the game, a disgruntled Verratti accused the referee of abusing him.
"The only thing I don't like is when the referee tells you to "f*** off", we always try to be respectful, but he did that three or four times during the game,” Verratti said in the post-match conference.
On the other hand, Herrera, a former Man United player, said after the match: “The referee tonight said f**k off to Leandro Paredes. If we say that we get a 3 or 4 match ban.”
While PSG manager Mauricio Pochettino didn’t make any excuses for his side’s defeat, he suggested UEFA to investigate the referee’s actions.
“I didn’t hear from the touchline but if something is there, maybe UEFA will investigate the situation. It is not an excuse to use and the most important thing is that we are not in the final,” the former Tottenham Hotspur boss said.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 05, 2021 06:51 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).