Messi played the referee against PSG, claims Silva
By	Sports Desk	July 08, 2019
Thiago Silva says it is natural for Lionel Messi to be frustrated with the referee after losing, suggesting Paris Saint-Germain had similar feelings in defeat to Barcelona in 2017.
Argentina great Messi described the officiating in his side's Copa America semi-final loss to Brazil as "bulls***" and suggested his side were victims of "corruption" as he received a controversial red card in the third-place play-off with Chile, which led to a strong rebuttal from CONMEBOL who described his comments as "unacceptable" and "unfounded".
"Maybe I'm paying for what I said last time," the Barcelona star said.
Brazil defender Silva, responding to the comments, suggested Messi had benefited from such decisions in Barca's incredible 6-1 Champions League win over PSG two years ago.
"This is difficult for us to comment on," he said after Brazil's 3-1 final win over Peru. "Sometimes in defeat, we try to focus on other people.
"I think he did not say it out of spite, but we are sad because, in the game we lost 6-1 to Barcelona, he played the referee, which, in my opinion, was ridiculous.
"But we did not give a statement that the referee was in favour of Barcelona. I think you have to show respect.
"Brazil do not have five stars [from World Cup wins] at random - none of them have been stolen. It was played on the pitch."
Silva's PSG and Brazil team-mate Marquinhos added: "[Messi] is a good person, but his statements were unfortunate and we Brazilian players did not like that.
"We lost in the World Cup against Belgium and there were also refereeing errors in his favour with Barcelona. I did not hear him talk about corruption at that time."
Peru coach Ricardo Gareca also weighed in on Messi's outburst following the defeat to Brazil.
"Messi is an authoritative voice, that does not mean I agree with him," Gareca said. "I respect him a lot - not just the player but the person. He seems to be very focused.
"But apart from the opinion we have of Messi, we can agree or disagree with him.
"I like that we would know what we have to improve in South America, but that does not necessarily mean that there is corruption or that we are corrupt.
"There is more and more information from Europe, where our children and grandchildren know more and more European players, and it seems that we want to imitate them in everything.
"There are good things in Europe, but we also have good things in South American football, too. I would like to defend South American football.
"If you speak of corruption, you must have convincing evidence. Football is a game and an individual can go wrong."
Ricardo Gareca Nardi
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Zinedine Zidane believes it was the right decision to rule out a Luuk de Jong goal in Real Madrid's 2-1 victory over Sevilla on Saturday.
Madrid moved top of LaLiga as two goals from Casemiro secured all three points at the Santiago Bernabeu, despite De Jong having briefly made it 1-1 in the second half.
The striker thought he had given Sevilla the lead half an hour in, but his header was disallowed following a VAR check, with referee Juan Martinez Munuera instead penalising Nemanja Gudelj for blocking Eder Militao in the build-up.
Sevilla head coach Julen Lopetegui was aghast at the decision and director of football Monchi claimed he would have taken the team off the pitch had they seen a goal disallowed for a second time when VAR was used to check a possible handball by Munir El Haddadi.
Zidane, though, sees little reason to feel the decisions changed the game.
"What I can say is that I saw the incident and it's a block, there's a foul, the referee saw it on VAR, and he gave the foul," the Madrid boss told reporters.
"For the second, there's a hand, he doesn't give it. I can't explain anything, and I never get into evaluating these things. It's for the referee to decide.
"Sometimes these things go against you and sometimes in your favour. It's a difficult job. It's for them to decide.
"For me, there's a block, it's a foul and it's really normal."
When asked about Monchi's comments, Zidane replied: "I don't think the referee was that decisive. He did what he had to do.
"There's a hand for their goal, but that wasn't given. What can I say? I'm not going to get into it.
"It's a complicated game for everyone. We played against a good team, but the result is logical for what happened on the pitch.
"What he said is his responsibility. It's not for me to say anything. In the end, it's the referee who decides.
"What he said seems a little strong to me, but I'm not going to prevent the Sevilla sporting director from speaking."
Zidane went on to praise the performance of Casemiro, who proved Madrid's unlikely hero by scoring twice in the same game for the first time in his career with the club.
"Good, because in the end he got two goals and that's not usual," he said of Casemiro's performance. "I'm happy for him. We can make the difference in attack with any player."
I'd have taken the team off! Sevilla rage against VAR after loss at Real Madrid
Sevilla director of football Monchi was incensed by VAR's intervention in the defeat to Real Madrid, claiming he would have walked his team off the pitch had Luuk de Jong seen a second goal disallowed.
Zinedine Zidane's Madrid side claimed a 2-1 victory at the Santiago Bernabeu, with Casemiro scoring either side of a De Jong strike to send the hosts to the top of LaLiga.
Sevilla thought they had taken the lead in the first half through De Jong's header, only for the goal to be disallowed when a VAR check prompted referee Juan Martinez Munuera to penalise Nemanja Gudelj for blocking Eder Militao.
Monchi was left furious by the decision and suggested he would have taken matters into his own hands had VAR intervened again when a possible handball by Munir El Haddadi before De Jong's finish was checked.
"Everyone saw the action. There's no footballing, technical or tactical analysis after such a clear incident that defines the game," Monchi told Movistar.
"There's nothing more to analyse about it. It's absurd.
"If they had ruled out the second goal, I would have come down to the pitch and taken the team off.
"We leave here satisfied with the game despite the defeat because Sevilla are a very big team. We're angry, outraged, and... I stop there."
Head coach Julen Lopetegui insisted there was no clear reason why Sevilla's opening goal should have been ruled out.
"I feel sad. When you lose a game, you're sad," Lopetegui said.
"We played quite a good first half. We deactivated Madrid, we scored an absolutely legal goal.
"I don't know if 'shame' is the right word. If I said that [at the time], it's not appropriate, but there's no reason to disallow the goal. We've seen it and it was legal.
"It's a great goal, a play we worked on throughout the week and I still don't know why it was ruled out."
Championship: Leeds under pressure after controversial QPR loss, Brewster strikes
Leeds United had their promotion hopes dented as they fell to a controversial 1-0 loss at QPR on Saturday.
Marcelo Bielsa's men have only won one of their past seven Championship matches, a streak that started with their astonishing collapse in a 3-3 draw against Cardiff City.
Leaders West Brom can extend their advantage to four points when they host Stoke City on Monday.
Brentford did not take full advantage of Leeds' loss as they drew 0-0 away to Huddersfield Town, meaning Fulham – winners over Middlesbrough on Friday – remain third.
Swansea City's 2-1 home victory over Wigan Athletic saw on-loan Liverpool prospect Rhian Brewster score his first senior goal.
Blackburn Rovers, Bristol City, Derby County, Millwall and Preston North End were the other winning teams, with the 1-1 scoreline between Birmingham City and Cardiff one of only two draws on the day.
LEEDS' SLUMP CONTINUES
Nakhi Wells' 20th-minute strike for QPR ultimately proved decisive in London.
Leeds were angry that a handball by Wells as he collected Eberechi Eze's deflected free-kick was not spotted by referee Peter Bankes.
Pablo Hernandez hit the post with a set-piece of his own and Patrick Bamford had a second-half penalty saved by Liam Kelly, who conceded the spot-kick, before Kalvin Phillips received a red card in the closing minutes for a foul on Geoff Cameron.
Leeds' advantage over Fulham has been cut to four points with 18 matches still to play.
BRENTFORD HELD AS SWANSEA FIGHT BACK
Brentford started their match knowing a win would put them above Fulham, but they missed the chance to do that and go within three points of Leeds in the process, with Josh Dasilva hitting the post in the closing stages at Huddersfield.
Nottingham Forest have the chance to go level on points with Brentford when they face Luton Town on Sunday, while Swansea sit fifth after coming from behind to beat Wigan.
Nathan Byrne capped a 16th-minute Wigan counter-attack to put the visitors ahead, but Brewster replied inside three minutes before a clever backheel from Andre Ayew after the break won it.
WEDNESDAY THUMPED BY BLACKBURN
Wednesday slumped to an astonishing 5-0 home loss against Blackburn, who saw Lewis Holtby score twice.
Massimo Luongo was sent off after Holtby's opener and Wednesday fell apart from there.
Patrick Bauer headed the winner as Preston came from behind to beat Charlton Athletic 2-1 at Deepdale, Josh Harrop having scored a superb leveller.
Millwall are only outside the play-off positions on goal difference after a 2-0 home win over Reading while Derby beat Hull City 1-0, with Bristol City getting the better of Barnsley by the same scoreline after Niclas Eliasson's dramatic winner.
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