We suspected that the English tabloids were going to use their finest inspirations when we saw Szymon Marciniak designate the penalty spot in favor of PSG, at the end of added time. Until then led by Newcastle and on the brink of the abyss in the Champions League, the Parisians therefore benefited from a questionable interpretation of the Polish referee, already little visible during the last World Cup final, to equalize thanks to to Kylian Mbappé (1-1, 98th). In question: a ball from Ousmane Dembélé having bounced on the chest of Valentino Livramento before hitting his left arm.
There was no shortage of it: “The Toons stolen from Paris” and “La France thief” (the “Vive la France” gives way to “Thieve la France”, do you get it?) thus releases the Daily Star in its headlines of the day. THE Sun and the Telegraph they also speak of a “theft”, with this formula for the Sun : “The end of the match was as sickening as possible.” The criticism falling on this outcome of the 5th day of C1 groups did not only come from the British media on Tuesday evening.
The VAR referee deprogrammed from another C1 match
Former legendary Magpies striker Alan Shearer had a sharp message on X: “A superb performance from every player. “It shouldn’t have been ruined by a disgusting decision.” Likewise, former England international referee Mark Clattenburg cannot be accused of corporatism in his post-match reaction. “Newcastle has every right to feel robbed,” he confided in the Daily Mail. Livramento did not enlarge his body. His arm was in a natural position for the movement he was making. He didn’t have time to react to the deviation. This penalty goes against all UEFA guidelines and Newcastle have paid the price. »
The referee in charge of VAR at the Parc des Princes too, since according to The Telegraph and ESPN, the man named Tomasz Kwiatkowski, who was initially supposed to still be on VAR for Real Sociedad-RB Salzburg this Wednesday in C1, has just been replaced by Marco Fritz. Could Szymon Marciniak in turn be sanctioned after this decision which is as contentious as it is fraught with consequences?