Five years after Barcelona’s controversial return to Paris Saint-Germain, in the round of 16 of the 2016-2017 Champions League, in which the Catalans won 6-1, former French referee Toni Chaperon revealed that he lied to Unai Emery at the time, the coaches Parisians. The decisions of Denis Aitken, the match referee, were subjected to severe criticism, to the point that Emery went to speak with Chaperon, after the match of the French capital’s emblem with Lorient, the French referee, to question him about the refereeing. From his professional buddy. “I thought he’d come to appeal my decision, but no, not at all. He said to me, ‘Mr Chaperon, I have a question for you about the match against Barcelona.’ Can you explain the referee’s decisions? “When you’re judging you have to stick together and you’ve lied to him. I said I didn’t watch the match. It was certainly what he would have liked to hear, but it wasn’t the right time. Today, five years later, I can say that and maybe, since I’ve finished my career, It is easier to say that we are human and we also make mistakes”, the former referee of the French channel ‘Canal +’ admitted, to later respond to the request that the Spanish coach at the time had started pointing the finger at UEFA.
For UEFA, the result of the first leg [4-0 para o PSG] It means it will be an easy match for the referee, kind of a test without any risk,” he stressed, noting that the appointed referee had little experience in the first level and that the assistant, Benjamin Brand, had no experience in competition.
“What should have been called. In his first decision, the assistant panicked. In the 1-0 play, the first thing he did was look at the other assistant to see if he had to score a goal or not,” he said, then dealing with the movement that It made the difference at the beginning of the second half, in which Neymar fell in the French region. “He is the farthest, least experienced, one who shouldn’t referee at this level and turned the game around. He went to speak to the referee, while surrounded by the Barcelona players. He was real. A disaster. PSG lost because of a mistake in which the referee failed to maintain his composure. At such a delicate moment.”
He continued, “When Cavani achieved the score 3-1, he weighed on the referees’ shoulders, because with this goal they ensured that a draw would not pass in extra time. It is something you are grateful for when you are in such a difficult situation.”
Tony Chapron gave another example to prove that the assistants hurt Deniz Aitken’s performance. “Another important moment was when the other assistant did not award a penalty to Di Maria, in the 85th minute, and in the next step, he scored a foul on Neymar that changed the final result. Aiteken was hurt by the two assistants,” he praised, adding: “The penalty that gives 5-1 did not It wasn’t there. There is a connection but Suarez helps a lot in the simulation. To score a penalty at a time like this you have to be safe, or you don’t score. If you whistle, it can’t be a yellow card. You can see that the referee here is overwhelmed with the decision. It’s a lack of in clarity.”
The previous French ruling ended by saying that it was Aitken’s “from heaven to hell” fall. He concluded, “Had Barcelona not qualified, the referee’s performance would have been forgotten, but it was not. At the last moment the unimaginable happened. It is a context we will never see again. Aetekken has gone from heaven to hell”, .
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