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The Moment Neymar Kicked The Ball At Referee So Hard That Play Had To Be Stopped

The Moment Neymar Kicked The Ball At Referee So Hard That Play Had To Be Stopped

It happened in the second half at the Bernabeu...

Jack Kenmare

Jack Kenmare

Gianluca Rocchi got more than he bargained for during last night's Champions League round of 16 tie between Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain.

Not only did PSG manager Unai Emery accuse the referee of bias towards Real Madrid in his post-match comments, but the 44-year-old official was on the receiving end of Neymar's stray diagonal pass during it.

Image: PA
Image: PA

In fact, play had to be stopped in the second half because it looked like Rochhi was injured from Neymar's powerful ping.

As you can see in the footage below, the referee was standing just eight yards away from the world's most expensive player when he was hit. Rocchi received treatment for his injury and was back officiating shortly afterwards.

The Italian official had a busy night at the Bernabeu on Wednesday and shortly after the final whistle, PSG manager Unai Emery accused the official of bias towards Real Madrid.

"His tendency was to whistle more in favour of Real Madrid," the PSG coach argued. "We saw that in the cards, the fouls and the penalty. You can give it. It wasn't [a penalty] for me. The handball for Ramos I did not see but they say it was a handball and a penalty. It's not the same criteria." he said via The Independent.

"The team played a good match with a bad result. It's a 3-1 but that does not reflect what was seen on the pitch. With different refereeing, it would have been a different result.

"It's not one player or the ref. We all play a part. There were decisions that clearly damaged us. They scored when we were at our best."

Thoughts on the referee's performance last night?

Let us know in the comments.

Featured Image Credit:

Topics: Football News, Paris Saint-Germain, Football, Neymar, Champions League, Real Madrid