Jurgen Klopp has criticised the playacting of certain Paris Saint-Germain players and the performance of the Polish referee during Liverpool’s 2-1 loss in the Champions League on Wednesday.
The defeat means Liverpool need to beat Group C leaders Napoli either 1-0 or by two clear goals in Matchday 6 to ensure their place in the knockout rounds of the competition.
Juan Bernat and Neymar put the French champions two goals up after 37 minutes before James Milner scored a penalty kick in first-half stoppage time to give Liverpool hope.
But Klopp was left bemused at how Marco Verratti avoided a red card for a reckless challenge on Joe Gomez in the 24th minute and then why referee Szymon Marciniak originally awarded a corner kick when Sadio Mane was brought down by Angel Di Maria inside the penalty area.
“The problem I have a little bit is that I, again, have to create the stories with my name — ‘Klopp said’, ‘Klopp said’,” the Liverpool manager told BT Sport. “But I saw the penalty. For me, it was a clear situation — it was inside [the penalty area].
“He didn’t even whistle a foul. I have no clue why that happened. Then I saw the Verratti foul and wow.
“It’s difficult. We lost the game because we were not 100 percent and not outstandingly good.
“But it’s a tight game in a very important competition. How many yellow cards did we have — five, six, seven? It was crazy. The holding of somebody is the same colour as Verratti’s foul?
“These things are hard to get, but it’s our lives, our jobs to take it. Everybody asked me about it, I’m still a bit emotional about it. It will not stay like this.
“We will make the proper analyse [sic] and fly back and prepare for the derby and for a few more games. Then it’s the 11th of December, we have a proper final at Anfield.”
A total of six Liverpool players were booked at the Parc des Princes, compared to just Verratti and Neymar for PSG.
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