Ibrahima Konate rejected the allegations according to which he should have been sent for his challenge on Bradley Barcola during the 1-0 victory of Liverpool against the Saint-Germain of Paris, insisting that the contact was minimal and did not justify a penalty.
The French defender was at the center of the greatest controversy of the game in the 25th minute when Barcola broke into the Liverpool box. Konate, apparently beaten, contacted her international teammate, sending her to the ground.
PSG players immediately called a penalty and a red card, but referee Davide Massa kicked. A Var exam followed, but no clear and obvious error was detected, leaving the furious PSG.
Sports director Luis Campos broke out in the half-time tunnel, confronted with officials and shouting: “It was a red card and a penalty!”. But the Konate was not moved by the demonstrations in the fight against the incident after the match.
Addressing Canal Plus, Konate said: “There was a Var check. If there was a push, as you said, I would have been shown a red card. I tell you there was no fault.
He then added: “It’s true that I am very strong but I do not apply power, I just put my arm. If I had put much more power, we could talk about it … but it was soft about me.
Ibrahima Konate rejected the claims that he should have been sent for his challenge to Bradley Barcola during the 1-0 Liverpool victory against Paris Saint-Germain
Liverpool’s central rear seemed to push the PSG winger in the 25th minute
Rio Ferdinand was disconcerted after the Var decision not to show Ibrahima Konate a red card after his fault on Bradley Barcola
The anger of PSG was aggravated when Liverpool snatched a late winner thanks to the replacement Harvey Elliott, putting the side of the Premier League before the next week’s return match in Anfield.
Several of the experts reporting the game disagreed with Konate’s opinion. Rio Ferdinand was once. He estimated that the fault justified a red card and that PSG should have received a penalty.
“It’s a fault,” said Manchester United icon while commenting on the TNT sports match. “And it’s behind his back, it’s a fault. It’s a red card. It is not a red card, I will be surprised. And it will be a shame if he will go down to 10 against 11 in this direction, because you want the best players to also play it within 90 minutes.
Speaking at halftime on TNT Sports, Ferdinand said: “I can’t believe how lucky Liverpool is. How did Var not picked up. It bursts between the shoulder blades on the back.
The incident occurred for a few moments after KHVICHA KVAratskhelia’s goal was excluded for offside after another long VAR check.
Despite being the favorites to win the tournament, Liverpool had trouble creating score opportunities against the Champions of Ligue 1, but found the net late against the game.