Featured Image Credit: Canal+
Topics: Virgil Van Dijk, Champions League, Liverpool, Ibrahima Konate, Paris Saint-Germain, Football
Marcus Chan
Topics: Virgil Van Dijk, Champions League, Liverpool, Ibrahima Konate, Paris Saint-Germain, Football
Footage has emerged showing Virgil van Dijk shutting down a Paris Saint Germain official inside the Parc des Princes tunnel.
Van Dijk captained Liverpool on Wednesday night as they took on PSG in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League round of 16 tie.
Despite being dominated all game, Liverpool somehow came away 1-0 winners thanks to Alisson Becker's heroic performance and Harvey Elliott's 87th-minute goal.
During the first half, Reds defender Ibrahima Konate survived a nervy VAR check after he challenged Bradley Barcola when the PSG man was through on goal.
Luckily for Liverpool, VAR found there to be no clear and obvious error from the referee, and the match swiftly resumed.
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Footage from inside the Parc des Princes tunnel has since emerged, which captured PSG Football Advisor Luis Campos furiously reacting to the referee's decision.
He was heard shouting: "Red card or penalty!"
Van Dijk then said: "Comeon bro, it's not Ligue 1 bro hey, it's not Ligue 1."
Campos seemed to ignore Van Dijk as he continued shouting: "It's a red card or penalty."
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Former FIFA referee Christina Unkel claimed that Konate should have seen red for his challenge on Barcola.
She said on CBS Sports: "I’m actually not going to agree with the referee or VAR in this play itself. I do think it should have been recommended down to a red card due to denial of a goalscoring opportunity (DOGSO).
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"The contact happens here, essentially, outside the penalty area, so we’re talking about a DOGSO red card. Did they attacker have the opportunity to control the ball? The answer here is yes."
Unkel added: "It meets all of the DOGSO considerations so I would have wanted to see this as a penalty and then the VAR if not called on-field."
Konate himself said to Canal+: "There was a VAR check. If there was a push, like you said, I would have been shown a red card. I'm telling you that there wasn’t a foul.
"It’s true that I am very strong but I don’t apply power, I just put my arm. If I had put a lot more power into it then we could talk about it, but it was soft from me."