Posted in Paris Saint-Germain, Benfica, champions league

Verratti’s tirade against arbitration

 October 5, 2022

This Wednesday night, PSG faced off against a strong Benfica squad (1-1). Following the match, Marco Verratti addressed his group in a very candid way and used the occasion to criticize the nighttime referee.

In the 22nd minute, Lionel Messi gave Saint-Germain the lead, while in the 41st minute,

Danilo’s own goal gave Benfica the equalizer.


Each team earned a point, allowing them to tie for first place in Group H with 7 points each,

3 points behind Juventus.


Gianluigi Donnarumma wore the glove of talent from the opening minutes and prevented

his goal from an early goal by stopping a single one from Goncalo Ramos. The Parisian

defense trio of Sergio Ramos, Marquinhos, and Danilo endured.


In a subsequent encounter between the same two players, Ramos fired a ball that the Italian

goalkeeper bravely deflected and caught, denying David Neres another risky opportunity.

The Parisian team vanished, and Messi scored a great goal from the opening shot on goal

thanks to some outstanding coordination from Mbappe and Neymar.

The goal was against the flow, and Mbappe gave Ashraf Hakimi another opportunity,

which the Moroccan star did not fully take advantage of.


Benfica pulled off the surprise and came close to tying the game, but Donnarumma kept on

impressing by stopping another chance for Antonio Silva.
But as Enzo Fernandez played a cross from the left, which Danilo Pereira accidently finished in his own goal to give the hosts the equalizer, one of Donnarumma’s teammates stabbed him.

The situation repeated in the second half, but with a switch in roles and a highly Parisian threat in exchange for a few tries by Benfica, who nearly gave a blow to the Paris behemoth.
Ashraf Hakimi, Neymar, and Mbappe each made four dangerous attempts that Benfica goalkeeper Fladimos stopped. Neymar’s scissor kick was also stopped by the crossbar.
Otamendi nearly exacted revenge on PSG for their wasted opportunities by posing a serious threat to Donnarumma’s goal.
Juan Bernat, who had been injured, was the first of the three substitutes made by Paris coach Christophe Galtier. Messi and Vetnia were replaced by Sarabia and Fabian Ruiz for the final few minutes.

Marco Verratti didn’t understand what happened with the referee

The Italian midfielder Marco Verratti stressed that it was crucial to be able to maintain composure when under pressure because PSG could not control every match for the whole 90 minutes. “You shouldn’t lose when you can’t win. You must be willing to endure agony for 10 to 15 minutes; you cannot always be in control. With Messi’s superb goal, which was another significant game, we accomplished that. After that, other from towards the finish, we didn’t give up many chances in the second half.

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