Former Liverpool FC defender and current Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher was very critical of the Chelsea players for their reaction to Ibrahimovica s challenge as they appealed to the referee for the Swede to be punished.
PSG were reduced to 10 men after just half an hour as Ibrahimovic was sent off in the second leg of their last-16 Champions League clash after his tackle on Chelsea attacker Oscar as they went for the ball. But despite the man advantage, and the away goal advantage of the first leg, the Parisians progressed to the quarter-final of the competition after coming back two times to secure a 2-2 draw at Stamford Bridge.
Carragher said, a The sending off is very unfortunate. Ita s not a red card.
a Zlatan is actually trying to pull his foot away. You look at it and Oscara s (foot) is as high as his, if not higher, and if the referee is the other side maybe he would look at Oscar and give the decision the other way.
a The reaction from the Chelsea players is disgraceful and ita s sad. Ita s something thata s coming into the game and it comes from Jose Mourinhoa s teams. They have this reaction, ita s not a one-off”.
Carragher felt that the referee’s poor decision could have been influenced by Mourinho’s pre-match comments where the Portuguese manager spoke about PSGa s aggressive nature and that his team hadna t met an opponent as aggressive as PSG were in the first leg.
a Maybe what hea s said beforehand in the press conference has gone into the referee’s head.
a I always think with Jose Mourinhoa s teams, they will always be respected but they will never be loved because of situations like this. They take winning to a level that no other team or manager does
a You see the reaction of some of the players and it has definitely played a part a and Mourinhoa s words have worked.a
Fellow pundit Graeme Souness also had similar qualms from the game and felt that decisions like these, spoil the game. He added, a We had a great game of football going on there and it saddens me, and makes me angry at the same time, that gamesmanship is deciding these big games.
a Ita s not a sending off, it is Oscara s studs that are high. This has spoiled the game. Ita s not about the best team winning it any more.
a If thata s what our game is coming to we need to sort it out and sort it out quickly.a