Getty Images October 23, 2025, 11:35 am

Roberto De Zerbi expressed his strong dissatisfaction with the work of the refereeing team after his team’s 1-2 defeat by Sporting in the Champions League match. The Italian expert believes that the arbitrator’s decisions have become decisive.

“Today we played a good match, but we paid for the mistakes of the referee. I think he was not adapted to referee a game of this level,” De Dzerby categorically stated in his post-match commentary.

The main source of frustration for Marseille was the sending off of defender Emerson, who received a second yellow card for simulation in the opponent’s penalty area. Remaining in the minority, Olimpik could not keep a positive result for itself, despite the fact that it was leading in the score.

The coach’s opinion was supported by striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who called the refereeing “scandalous” and said that the referees “were not up to par at all.”