Linfield boss David Healy has admitted he was "surprised" that Uefa appointed a Russian referee for Thursday night's Europa League playoff with Qarabag.
The Blues went down to a 2-1 defeat in Baku (agg 4-4) to lose out on away goals and miss out on the group stages.
It was another heroic effort from Healy's players, but goals in either half from Jaime Romero and Abdellah Zoubir sealed Qarabag's win.
Healy questioned whether Zoubir's 87th-minute goal had been offside, the winger racing clear before rounding Rohan Ferguson and slotting home.
"I haven't seen it back to see if the second goal was offside, I don't know," Healy said.
"But I thought the majority of the game, the referee's decisions went to the home team. The little throw-ins, the 50-50 decisions.
"I was surprised we had a Russian referee. But again, that is Uefa's choice."
Despite losing out, Healy praised Qarabag on progressing to the group stages.
"Anybody that has seen the two games, Qarabag have proved they are a very good side," he said.
"As manager of Linfield, and everyone at Linfield, we wish Qarabag well in the group stages.
"I am super proud of my players and disappointed we aren't the team going to the group stages. But good luck to Qarabag."
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