Francesco Calzona, head coach of Serie A giants Napoli, has made clear his frustration with the team of officials to have overseen his side’s meeting with Barcelona on Tuesday night.
This comes with the Italian tactician of the opinion that Napoli were denied a clear penalty.
The Partenopei, of course, are fresh off being sent packing from the Champions League.
After making the trip to Catalunya for the 2nd leg of their Last-16 showdown with La Liga heavyweights Barcelona, Amir Rrahmani’s finish on the half-hour mark proved itself to be little more than a consolation, en route to a 3-1 defeat.
And yet, whilst Barcelona, on the balance of play, were the better team on the night, Napoli have nevertheless been left pondering what might have been in the aftermath of Tuesday’s clash.
This comes with the reigning Scudetto holders having been responsible for wasting a whole host of presentable opportunities in front of goal.
Not only that, but they saw strong shouts for a penalty – after a challenge from youngster Pau Cubarsí on Victor Osimhen – go unanswered.
Speaking to the media on the back of the full-time whistle at Montjuïc, the aforementioned Francesco Calzona was in turn quick to make his frustrations clear.
During an interview with Mediaset, as cited by Tuttomercatoweb, Napoli’s headmaster explained:
“From the images it looked like a penalty kick to me too. I don’t understand why VAR at this level doesn’t intervene in a situation like that. But we also had the chance to equalize with Lindstrom and we would have readjusted the situation a bit. Obviously I’m sorry for the penalty because it looked clear.”
Conor Laird | GIFN
