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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Ben Husband

PSG bosses confront officials and lash out with "shameful" blast after Champions League exit

UEFA have requested footage from the Bernabeu after furious Paris Saint-Germain officials reportedly confronted officials following their dramatic Champions League exit vs Real Madrid.

PSG came into the second leg of the last-16 tie holding a slender one-goal advantage, given to them by Kylian Mbappe last month.

And the French superstar, seemingly destined for Madrid in the summer, doubled their aggregate advantage with an emphatic first-half strike.

The Parisians looked destined for the last-eight until a calamitous collapse saw Karim Benzema score a hat-trick in just 17 minutes.

HAVE YOUR SAY! What went wrong for PSG vs Real Madrid? Let us know in the comments

And it was Benzema’s opening goal which left the visitors fuming, after he pressed goalkeeper Ginaluigi Donnarumma into an uncharacteristic mistake.

The striker tackled the Italian stopper, with the ball falling to Vinicius Jr, who in turn found his strike partner to get Madrid on the board.

PSG boss Mauricio Pochettino bemoaned the decision, claiming referee Danny Makkelie missed what he felt was a clear foul.

"It's a feeling of a lot of injustice, with the goal we conceded," he said. "It's a clear foul from Benzema on Donnarumma.

“The emotional state of the game changed and we were very exposed. It's a tremendous blow, because we were better in the tie. We were better for 180 minutes."

And ESPN report that those frustrations threatened to boil over in the corridors of Madrid’s famous old stadium with president Nasser Al-Khelaifi and sporting director Leonardo attempting to confront officials in the immediate aftermath of the full-time whistle.

According to reports, Leonardo and Al-Khelaifi made their way from the presidential box after their exit was confirmed, shouting that the decision was “shameful”.

The pair were reportedly unable to initially find the officials, before finding the referee’s room and banging on the door.

PSG boss Mauricio Pochettino blamed officials for missing what he felt was a clear foul (BT Sport)

AS quote a witness who says he saw a Madrid employee attempting to record the incident, causing Al-Khelaifi to hit their phone and shout: "I'm going to kill you."

It was at this point that security staff were forced to intervene and calm the situation, with one source telling the publication they had never seen executives behave in that manner.

Spanish news outlet Partidazo COPE now claim that UEFA have requested the images from Real Madrid in order to establish what really went on in the minutes following the end of the game.

Following his controversial opener, Benzema fired Madrid level in the tie after 76 minutes, before completing his stunning treble just seconds later.

Speaking after the miraculous comeback, Benzema claimed that there was no foul in the build-up to his first, instead just a result of the team’s high press.

PSG crashed out in dramatic circumstances in the Spanish capital (Getty Images)

"It's not a mistake [by Donnarumma]. It's pressure from the whole team,” he explained. “The goalkeeper waited and waited, he lost the ball and it was a goal. He should have cleared it, simple as that."

The 34-year-old, who became the oldest player to score a Champions League hat-trick, added: "We needed the fans and this is for them. It was a very difficult game but we pushed until the end and we deserve the win.

"We lost the first leg, they went 1-0 up, but our fans pushed us to give everything right to the final whistle."

Marca has shed more light on the post-match incident, sharing the referee's report from the Bernabeu.

"The president and the technical director of PSG showed aggressive behavior and tried to enter the referees' locker room," the report reads.

"When the referee asked them to leave, they blocked the door and the president deliberately hit the flag of one of the assistants, breaking it."

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