Benfica coach Bruno Lage has criticised the decisions of Dutch referee Danny Makkelie, considering him the reason for Barcelona’s 5-4 victory on Tuesday in the Champions League.
Barcelona managed to score a last-minute goal through Raphinha, snatching the three points of the match, and according to Lage, the goal was not valid and Benfica deserved a penalty kick in the ball before the counterattack.
The coach said in statements after the match, “We have already noticed that all the refereeing experts give us a clear penalty kick (in the ball of the fifth goal), this is not just my opinion or the fans’ opinion.”
He also added, “The truth is that the referee, in such situations, should have a standard similar to the standard with which all the penalties were awarded to Barcelona and to us in the match.”
He concluded, “The referee should have stopped the game with the foul, and he should not have allowed the Barcelona player to run across the middle of the field to score the goal.”
Makkelie had awarded three penalties in the match, two for Barcelona and one for Benfica, and then came under fire for Benfica’s last ball, especially since the mistake was quite clear. Benfica’s defeat left them 18th on 10 points, and they must win their final match against Juventus to qualify for the round of 16 play-off.
