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Speaking to Prime Video in the wake of Marseille’s defeat at the Parc des Princes tonight, club president Pablo Longoria notably criticised the refereeing of François Letexier.
The Spaniard in particular pointed to the penalty decision late in the first half that saw Valentin Rongier penalised for stopping a Neymar shot, which was then seemingly handled by Gerson afterwards.
“I was surprised by a lot of decisions. We saw a good football match controlled by both teams without too many chances. Two teams that were defending with a medium block. Possession was going from one team to the other.”
“Sometimes I am surprised in football. We can talk about a penalty… I think we need to protect football. When the ball hits the thigh before [it got to Rongier], it’s a difficult decision to accept.”
“I am a football purist. It was an involuntary position with his hand next to his body. When the ball hits a player’s thigh… it’s a difficult decision, especially when you have VAR. We have VAR for all of this, this kind of refereeing error. Giving a penalty for that is impossible, in a good football match, between two good teams, the first and second-placed teams in the league.”
