Spanish columnist accuses Liverpool of playing with ‘severe roughness’ in win over Atletico

A Spanish columnist has accused Liverpool of playing with ‘severe roughness’ in their 2-1 victory against Atletico Madrid at Anfield on Wednesday night.

The statistics wouldn’t suggest that it had been a particularly feisty encounter – there were only two yellow cards and 21 fouls given – but the refereeing performance of Davide Massa infuriated the natives…and seemingly some of the Spanish press, also.

Liverpool accused of ‘severe roughness’ against Atletico

In his column for Mundo Deportivo reflecting on the match, Walter Zimmermann accused the home side of targeting Lee Kang-in specifically with ‘severe roughness’ and also complained about the ‘apparent leniency’ of the man in the middle.

The writer referenced a few incidents to underline his point, including the yellow card shown to Alexis Mac Allister for catching the South Korea forward on the ankle, and a challenge from Virgil van Dijk which saw the 25-year-old throw himself to the ground theatrically.

The columnist even accused Dominik Szoboszlai of punching the Atletico player in the face shortly after putting in a ‘hard tackle’ on him and bemoaned the lack of action from Massa on the pitch or Marco di Bello on VAR.

(Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images)

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Simeone’s and Atletico’s gamesmanship at Anfield was nauseating

We’ll agree with Zimmermann on one thing – the refereeing performance last night was rather comical – but his complaints about Liverpool being excessively physical seem startling.

If anything, his ire should be directed at Atletico’s players for their pathetic gamesmanship in the first half in particular, with Lee being one of the worst on-field culprits.

Also, Diego Simeone can count himself lucky not have been sanctioned himself for multiple instances of his embarrassing ‘imaginary yellow card’ gesture on the touchline, including one aimed at Alexis Mac Allister when the Reds midfielder had already been booked.

Spanish columnist accuses Liverpool of playing

Massa completely missed two blatant fouls on Liverpool players in a 30-second spell midway through the first half and, if he was complicit in anything, it was his inexplicable tolerance of Atletico’s theatrics in response to the slightest of challenges from their opponents.

As for the farcical sight of Alexander Isak having to stay off the pitch for a minute after he momentarily stayed down following a late tackle on him, it’s no wonder that Andoni Iraola wanted a few words with the fourth official.

Anfield witnessed one of the worst displays of refereeing for some time in the first half last night, but it was the home side who had the most cause for complaint rather than the visitors, who thankfully won’t be back here in the league phase of next season’s Champions League as the fixture has now happened for two successive campaigns in a row.