What’s the story?
There were several controversial decisions in the Barcelona PSG game which has the seen the French side vent their anger and frustration at UEFA and the official who took charge of the game Deniz Ayeketin.
A report in Le Parisien is claiming the referee was partial to the Catalans and abused the PSG players on more than one occasion. Both penalties that Barcelona were awarded were very questionable and when the players protested, the referee yelled ‘F**k you’ at them.
There was also two incidents in Barcelona’s penalty box both cases involving Javier Mascherano. The first one was when a cross hit the Argentine’s hand and the other one being when he fouled Angel Di Maria when he was one-on-one with the keeper which he even admitted to.
In case you didn’t know...
Barcelona have been the centre of refereeing controversy for several years now in the UEFA Champions League. The game against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in 2009 is probably the most highlighted of this controversy when the referee turned a blind eye to several penalty decisions that might have gone the blues way.
The heart of the matter
Deniz Ayeketin is probably the most hated German in France right now. There is no doubt some of those decisions are controversial but the club are pushing for more than just that. Some even want the tie to be replayed.
The president and the owners of PSG have also spoken out against the decisions they claim to be unfair. The Suarez incident is probably the most controversial one given the nature of the foul.
He had already been booked for diving before that incident. So when he went down in the box again all eyes were on the referee and he gave a penalty. From the replays, you can see Marqinhos making contact with the Uruguayan's legs but at the same time, it also looks like he was already on his way down.
In any case, the past will remain the past and the PSG players will have to work to overcome this loss.
What’s next?
UEFA are set to take some sort of action after the recent game and will sideline the German referee for the remainder of the tournament. The decision has apparently been taken internally by the governing body.
Sportskeeda’s take
In all honesty, this is a difficult topic to talk about. While both penalties have enough justification to be given as penalties they are both very soft decisions. On another day and another referee, the outcome could have been very different
But it is highly unlikely the referee said something so vulgar to the players as it would be a big breach of ethics in football.
