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Football

15th Feb 2018

PSG president calls on UEFA to ‘do something’ about referees following Madrid defeat

Jack O'Toole

PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi has called on UEFA to ‘do something’ about their officials following his side’s 3-1 loss to Real Madrid in the first leg of their Champions League round of 16 tie on Wednesday.

Late goals from Cristiano Ronaldo, who opened the scoring for Madrid with a penalty, and Marcelo ensured that the two-time defending champions would head to Paris with a two goal advantage for the return leg.

Despite winning four of the last five leagues titles in Ligue 1, PSG have failed to advance past the quarter-final stages of the Champions League in each of the last five seasons.

Al-Khelaifi has said that Thomas Meunier and Adrien Rabiot’s yellow cards should not have been given and that there was an offside against forward Kylian Mbappe that also should not have been issued.

“We can speak about the referee,” Al-Khelaifi told beIN Sports post-match.

“Two yellow cards, which were not, and an offside against Kylian [Mbappe] that was also incorrect.

“The small things, such as these, can also make the difference against big teams like Real. It was not solely because of this but it helped Real, of course.

“Last year, in Barcelona, the referee. Today, again, the referee. I think that Uefa have to do something.”

Elsewhere Cristiano Ronaldo set a Champions League record when he became the first player to score 100 Champions League goals with a single team.

Ronaldo’s penalty gave Madrid a crucial equaliser before half-time before the Portuguese international then gave Madrid the lead in the 83rd minute after squeezing the ball into the back of the net from a goalmouth scramble.

Marcelo then sealed the win after finishing off a beautiful passing move to give Madrid a dominant advantage heading into the return leg in Paris.