Futebol Clube do Porto entered the Champions League at Manchester City and lost 3-1. At the end of the match, the Portuguese coach was very critical of referee Andris Treimanis’s job.
Criticism of referee:
“We are a pioneer country in the VAR, I have sometimes contested one or another decision in our country, but from what I saw today, I must apologize to all the referees and VAR of our country, because if there is a competent country in relation to what I saw here today, it is ours. City’s first goal… the move that causes the foul of Fábio Vieira [Gundogan’s goal] is not a foul… it could whistled other fouls equal or worse … since penalties on Pepe in the final of the first half, which is a penalty anywhere in the world. We were harmed and that left us with a bad taste in our mouths, because it had everything for a positive result, which was victory.”
Attitude of the players:
“I think the first word has to be for the players. We changed the usual structure, with some newly arrived elements, but it was something worked on by us and, in strategic terms, we felt it was important to nullify some of the strengths of City and then explore what we did very well in the first half. If he had scored a second goal in Marega’s situation, I think it was justified, because City hadn’t created danger in the first half. In the 60 something minutes, the game changed, because City took advantage and that made our task difficult. Luis Díaz was physically limited, we had to switch two players position: Manafá went to the defense and Corona went left. Then we went looking to try to reduce a handicap on the scoreboard… In this game, other than the frustration I felt at some points in the league game [with Sporting], I felt a great pride in what the team did. “
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