Neymar accuses ref Kuipers of 'disrespecting' him
Paris Saint-Germain turned their ire towards referee Bjorn Kuipers after a 1-1 Champions League Group C draw with Napoli at the San Paolo yesterday morning (Singapore time).
Juan Bernat gave PSG a deserved lead in first-half stoppage time before Lorenzo Insigne levelled via a penalty in the 62nd minute, after Jose Callejon pounced on a mistake by PSG defender Thiago Silva and was upended in the area.
The result, combined with Red Star Belgrade's 2-0 home win over Liverpool earlier yesterday, threw Group C wide open with only two points separating the four sides.
After the match, PSG star Neymar accused Kuipers of "disrespecting" him.
He said: "The referee told me something he should not have.
"I do not want to repeat what he said to me.
"However, somebody high up should do something.
"He cannot be as disrespectful as he was with me.
"On the pitch, we are asked to show respect towards the referees. We should get the same in return."
PSG boss Thomas Tuchel lamented that Napoli's goal was offside and claimed his side were denied a penalty.
He said: "For Napoli's goal, there was an offside.
"After that, there is a penalty for the foul on Juan. These decisions are very difficult to accept.
"However, that is how it is. We lacked a bit of luck."
It was a sentiment shared by Julian Draxler, who said: "There was an offside before Napoli's penalty... (and) there was also a penalty for us that was not given."
PSG goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, meanwhile, said Kuipers' "refereeing mistakes changed the match" and lobbied for the introduction of the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) .
He said: "We are waiting for VAR to arrive in the Champions League. With VAR, these errors are impossible."
Yesterday's results see Napoli go top of Group C, level on points with Liverpool.
PSG sit third, only one point adrift while Red Star prop up the table with four points.
The next round of fixtures see PSG play Liverpool in Paris and Napoli take on Red Star in Naples.
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