Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Marco Verratti is facing a lengthy ban after launching an astonishing rant at Ligue 1 officials, claiming his side are “s*** on by referees”.
The Italian international was incensed with referee Mikal Lesage following PSG’s shock 3-1 defeat at the hands of Nantes.
The Ligue 1 champions elect, who are still 13 points clear at the top of the table, found themselves 3-0 down at the break after goals from Randal Kolo Muani, Quentin Merlin and a Ludovic Blas penalty on the stroke of half time.
Neymar reduced the arrears two minutes into the second 45, but went on to miss a penalty which derailed their hopes of an unlikely comeback.
Verratti was furious in the immediate aftermath of the defeat, citing the decision to not send off Dennis Appiah for a foul on Kylian Mbappe.
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Appiah was initially shown a red card for tripping Mbappe, but that was reduced to a yellow after a lengthy VAR check.
The Nantes defender then committed another clumsy-looking foul on Mbappe, but escaped a second caution - to the ire of Verratti.
“The referee should have given Appiah the second yellow for the foul he made [on Mbappe],” he told Canal+ after the final whistle.
“How is it possible not to give him the yellow? We got s*** on by the referees!”
And L’Equipe via GFFN, reports that Verratti could be set for an extended spell on the sidelines with the LFP disciplinary commission set to meet on Wednesday.
Verratti has been asked to explain his comments, with the French Football Federation’s ethics council referring the comments to the LFP.
He could be hit with a five-game ban for rude behaviour, but there is a chance it could be even harsher given the severity of his comments.
PSG sporting director Leonardo could also face further sanctions after offering a similarly damning review of the officiating at Stade de la Beaujoire.
“The referee should have controlled better. With the fouls committed, we risk having players unavailable for three months like the foul on Kylian,” Leonardo added.
“There is also the fact that we announced one minute of additional time in the first half and the penalty is given in the 49th minute!
“I don't want to be here to cry. We deserved to lose, but against us there is this desire to whistle against us. It's embarrassing.”
Head coach Maurico Pochettino refused to blame the referee for their defeat, instead claiming his players should take responsibility.
“We had our first attack through Juan Bernat but they scored on the very next action,” he explained. “We then conceded twice in first-half injury-time.
“We did some very good things in attack, but we didn't control the defensive transitions against Nantes' fast players. There were a lot of mistakes.
“You have to separate things. We didn't lose the game because of the referee. I can understand the frustration of my players and sporting director.
“You'd have to review the game but that doesn't mean it's why we lost.”
