Marco Verratti and Ander Herrera made the shocking revelations after their Champions League semifinal second leg defeat against Manchester City.
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Paris Saint-Germain players Marco Verratti and Ander Herrera have accused referee Bjorn Kuipers of insulting the club’s players in their Champions League semifinal second leg defeat at Manchester City. Verratti claimed that he was sworn at by Kuipers at the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday night. Meanwhile, Herrera said that he heard his fellow midfielder Leandro Paredes being verbally abused by the official.
With PSG struggling to find any momentum, the match went from bad to worse for them when Kuipers sent off Angel Di Maria in the 69th minute. The tie was more or less over at this point. The Premier League leaders saw out the match 2-0 and entered the final 4-1 on aggregate.
After the match got over, PSG players made these accusations when talking to the media. “The referee said f*** off’ to Leandro Paredes, if we say that, we are out for four games,” Herrera told RMC Sport after the final whistle.
Verratti, speaking to Sky in Italy, said: “I think the best thing to do is to take a good look at each other, we were in the race until Di Maria was sent off. At that point we needed a miracle.”
“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.”
“He started giving yellow cards here and there and we became a little nervous. It’s not his fault. Manchester City deserve to qualify, they have great players. We could have done more in the first leg.”
Meanwhile, PSG head coach Mauricio Pochettino wants an investigation into the claims by UEFA. “Verratti explained to the TV in an interview,” Pochettino said in his post-match news conference. “We need to believe in what they are telling us.”
“I didn’t hear nothing from the touchline. If something is there and it is how they explain, maybe UEFA will investigate the situation. That is not an excuse. The most important is that we’re not in the final, that is why we feel really sad.”
