Manuel Pellegrini less than pleased with the referee following Manchester City’s loss
The City boss accuses the referee of a lack of impartiality and claims he decided the match.
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Manchester City head coach Manuel Pellegrini is not a man prone to outbursts in his press conferences, but Tuseday's result in the Champions League apparently inspired him to change his tune.
Pellegrini went on the attack, calling out Swedish referee Jonas Eriksson for what the City manager perceived as a lack of impartiality in his performance. Apparently Pellegrini made a similar statement to the referee himself as he walked off the pitch after the match as well.
Here are some highlights from Pellegrini’s post-match press conference:
Pellegrini: The referee decided the game .. from the beginning I felt the referee was not impartial to both teams." CIty 0 Bara 2
— Rob Harris (@RobHarris) February 18, 2014 "he [referee] decide the game". Pellegrini says he told Eriksson this at end of match...
— jamie jackson (@JamieJackson___) February 18, 2014 Pellegrini: "Not a good decision to put a referee from Sweden in charge of this match" This is all very un-Pellegrini-like.
— Oliver Kay (@OliverKayTimes) February 18, 2014 Pellegrini went on to imply that due to the fact that Eriksson made a mistake that hurt Barcelona in group stage match against AC Milan, the referee was always going to favor the Blaugrana.
Wowzers.
Next up for Manuel Pellegrini will no doubt be a letter or phone call from UEFA.
