Ibrahima Konate delivers forceful response to potential PSG red card

Liverpool centre-back Ibrahima Konate was adamant that his shove on Bradley Barcola "wasn't a foul", let alone the red card which Paris Saint-Germain were appealing for on Wednesday.

Midway through a painfully one-sided first half in favour of the French champions, Barcola burst behind Liverpool's backline. Konate retreated on the cover, making connection outside the penalty box with the speedy forward who tumbled to the turf while through on goal.

Referee Davide Massa waved play-on, a decision which was checked and confirmed by VAR Aleandro Di Paolo. Konate firmly agreed with the officials. "There was a VAR check," he pointed out to Canal+ after the match. "If there was a push, like you said, I would have been shown a red card. I'm telling you that there wasn't a foul.

"It's true that I am very strong but I didn't apply power, I just put my arm. If I had put a lot more power into it then we could talk about it, but it was soft from me."

PSG sporting advisor Luis Campos took a rather different view. "It's a red card or penalty in every part of the world," the Portuguese transfer specialist was caught screaming during the half-time interval in the bowels of Parc des Princes.

Luis Enrique, head coach of the Paris club, was more concerned with his side's superiority in open play rather than any officiating issues. "I don't really like to speak about refereeing," the Spanish boss sniffed.

Liverpool manager Arne Slot would not be drawn on the specific incident, but hailed Massa's overall performance. "It's not easy if you are a referee in a game like this when the fans are so there for the home team," the Dutch boss noted. "I don't feel he was in favour of us or in favour of them, I think he was a top referee in a game like this."

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