Both Lopetegui on the bench, and the Council, with Monchi at the head, in the box, ended up very angry with the referee’s performance
“We deserved to win the game and there was also a pretty clear penalty”. Julen lopetegui, Sevilla coach, had no doubts. “Penalty!”, claimed from the bench. He put his hands to his head after seeing how the hand of Balenziaga repelled a center of Jesus Navas to the area. Gil Manzano, well on top of the play, quickly said that there was nothing. From Cerro GrandeIn the VAR, he was no longer going to correct him because his partner had seen him on the front line. And if the Basque coach was frustrated, his face in the box and the gestures in the area of the stands where he moves Monchi as a coach on the bench they were outraged. The more times they saw the image repeated, the more the outrage grew.
“We have received many more dubious penalties and neither he nor the VAR have seen it. Today Sevilla has had bad luck. They haven’t seen him today and it’s a shame, since we deserve to fight for what we have won during the season, “reflected Lopetegui. At the end of the match he went to greet Gil Manzano, who showed him a card, which angered Lopetegui more, since he did not make any consideration. “This is impossible”, echoed in the bowels of the Sánchez-Pizjuán, with a Monchi especially angry about everything that happened. The hot-blooded sports director could not understand what had happened. A mixture of outrage with the refereeing and frustration at not having been able to beat the Athletic.
There is a feeling in Nervión that when they try to stick their heads out and try to fight with the greats, there is always a superior force that ends up sinking them, as if they could not fight face to face with the three above. Just when they were going to arrive with options to the decisive day, a supposed arbitration error (in local judgment) leaves them without that possibility. Like when in front of Barcelona there was a possible second yellow to Messi that did not sanction Hernandez Hernandez. And penalties by the hands of Sevilla defenders more than questionable, such as the recent one from Acuna in an auction of Soldier before him grenade. Or one of Kooundé on Vitoria falling on the grass.
Sevilla, as a club, tries not to publicly protest about the arbitrations. It is a position that the Board of Directors wishes to maintain, since they understand that it does not help to raise one’s voice, since the arbitration criteria on the issue of hands has varied during the course and depending on who the referee is. However, the pain of falling out of the fight for LaLiga makes the culprits emerge. And many look at Gil Manzano. And also the fact that he had launched himself at a goal to which he was not even invited, so sooner rather than later he had to give it up.
