By Daily Sports on January 7, 2018

German referee Deniz Aytekin was partially responsible for Paris Saint Germain’s monumental 6-1 defeat at Barcelona in last season’s Champions League round-of-16 tie, manager Unai Emery has claimed as the Parisians prepare to meet another Spanish side Real Madrid at the same stage next month.

PSG took a 4-0 lead to Camp Nou for the second leg of the round-of-16 tie but were hammered 6-1 in Catalonia, with Sergi Roberto delivering the decisive blow in stoppage time – one of three Barca goals in the final seven minutes.

The hosts scored two penalties on their way to snatching the memorable 6-5 aggregate win and Emery has criticised the performance of Aytekin in the Champions League classic.

“You have to divide that tie into two parts,” he told Marca. “In the first game we won comfortably against a winning side like Barcelona, and then at the Camp Nou we were not able to respond against the same side.

“There is a third element also which was out of our hands and that was the referee. I am saying that referees, against the biggest club, have more respect. Look, not consciously, but involuntarily.”

PSG face Real Madrid in this season’s last 16 but Emery believes PSG have grown as a club to command more respect around the continent and among officials.

“A year on and that situation has changed for us, and we now have a better capacity to respond against winning teams like Barcelona or Madrid,” he commented. (BBC)

•Photo shows Emery Unai.

Source Daily Sports

Posted January 6, 2018

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