Olympique Lyonnais and Paris Saint-Germain faced off this Sunday evening in the highlight match of the 12th round of Ligue 1. And although Luis Enrique’s team was heavily rotated due to injuries, they secured a last-minute victory with a 3-2 win, thanks to a goal scored deep into stoppage time. Jorge Maciel, assistant coach of Lyon, spoke out, or rather, lamented at length about the refereeing after the match. His comments were reported by Ligue 1+.
Maciel: “Maybe the referees are tired, just like us players…”
What can you say about the refereeing?
If we talk about the refereeing every week, it’s going to be difficult. It’s up to us to do the job with our team, and we’re very proud of what we did. There were 59,000 people in the stadium, and only four didn’t notice the fouls. There’s no need to even watch the replays. When things go one way, we don’t understand, because we don’t even have the chance to argue about it. We get a second yellow card, but how many fouls has PSG not been booked for?
I think we’re up against the best team in Europe, and they don’t need to play with 16 men. We played a good match on Thursday, we’re proud, the stadium can be proud of the performance. We didn’t dominate, but we controlled the game well. The first goal was a foul on Rachid, the second goal was a scandal, then there was the ball hitting the post, there was the handball, but the worst part is, maybe the referees are tired, just like us players. But the most important thing is that we really think about the rules we’re playing by.
“With the help of the referees, it helps them be even more aggressive.”
Were you surprised by PSG clearing the ball from the six-yard box?
No, they understood what we wanted to do: man-mark them, like against Bayern. After that, I think we managed the long clearances well; we were good on the second balls. I think our pressing was very consistent. We wanted to be compact and ambitious. They cleared the ball, but weren’t very successful, and we knew that with the players’ profiles, we could control the aerial duels.
It’s the evolution of football, and it’s perhaps because we have less time to prepare for matches and we have to find quick solutions. It’s not a surprise; it’s related to the aggression we bring. We had prepared all of this, and the two goals are the perfect illustration because we had worked on it. PSG is very strong, and with the help of the referees, it helps them be even more aggressive.
