Ibrahima Konate, a defender for Liverpool, avoided a red card during Wednesday’s 1-0 Champions League victory over Paris Saint-Germain. At halftime, his captain, Virgil van Dijk, responded to PSG’s accusations with eight words.
The French team had numerous chances, but they were unable to effectively challenge Alisson Becker’s goal before Harvey Elliott, who had just replaced Mohamed Salah, opened and closed the score in the 87th minute.
Those connected to the Les Parisiens believe that 25-year-old Konate should have been sent off for crashing into Bradley Barcola’s back, but Arne Slot currently has the advantage heading into the second leg of their Round of 16 match at Anfield.
Following Konate’s red card escape, Van Dijk responded to the PSG chief in eight words.
“It’s a red card or a penalty, everywhere in the world,” said Luis Campos.
In the early moments of the match, with the score tied at 0-0 at the Parc des Princes and both teams vying for the first goal, the Frenchman threw his countryman to the ground, but Italian referee Davide Massa waved play until VAR stepped in.
Massa’s on-field decisions to a) allow play to resume and b) allow the Liverpool enforcer to ultimately see out a defensively-robust 1-0 win were upheld by the VAR after a protracted check, much to the annoyance of PSG supporters and officials alike.
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PSG Football Advisor Luis Campos was visibly enraged by Massa’s choice to let Konate go unhurt as both sides headed back to the dressing room at halftime. He yelled, “It’s a penalty or a red card everywhere in the world.”
The Dutchman, who is considered to be among the greatest defenders in Premier League history, seemed to make a subtle jab at France’s top division, Ligue 1, in his eight-word response, which has since started making the rounds on social media.
Bro, this isn’t Ligue 1. Come on.
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Both Rio Ferdinand and Ally McCoist, the punditry team on TNT Sports, assumed that Konate was lucky. “That is a foul,” the latter remarked. It might just be unconventional, in my opinion. I’ll be shocked if that isn’t a red card.
Given the magnitude of the match at Europe’s top table, the former Manchester United player turned commentator went on to say that it would have been a “shame” for Liverpool to be given a numerical disadvantage, according to The Mirror.
Ferdinand concluded his analysis of the dispute by saying, “It will be a shame if it does go down to 10 against 11 in that sense, because you want the best players playing each other equally in the 90 minutes.”
Similar to Ronald Araujo’s early shower during PSG’s 4-1 loss to PSG last year, GOAL claims that Konate’s challenge was not given a red card because it was not considered a glaring and obvious error.
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