Bradley Barcola completed his move from Paris Saint-Germain to Liverpool in August.
He made his debut off the bench in the 2-0 win at Ipswich Town on 4 September. Five days later he limped off during his first start at Anfield, against Atletico Madrid, though head coach Andoni Iraola said it was only cramp.
Barcola then started the Premier League games against Fulham and Bournemouth. Liverpool remain unbeaten, sixth in the table with nine points from five games.
The international break gave him more minutes with France. He came on for the final 12 minutes of the 1-0 win in Turkey on 25 September, Zinedine Zidane’s first match as head coach.
Turkey goalkeeper Ugurcan Cakir was sent off for a deliberate handball outside his area while trying to stop a run from Barcola.
Zidane then started him in Brussels on Monday, in a side with nine changes. A moment in that game has since drawn a reaction from the winger.
Barcola has admitted he could face a sanction for criticising the referee’s decision not to award France a penalty in their 1-0 win over Belgium.
The incident came around the 20th minute. Lucas Da Cunha found Barcola in the centre circle, and the winger beat Timothy Castagne with a nutmeg before driving into the box.
Lille defender Nathan Ngoy then pushed him in the back with his arm, and Barcola went down. Slovenian referee Rade Obrenovic waved play on, and the VAR officials did not intervene.
“If I talk about it, I’m probably in trouble, but I have to say what I think,” Barcola said. “I felt the contact. I was inside the box, and I was trying to continue the action.”
“Maybe the referee saw it differently, but from where I was, it affected the play. What frustrates me most is that these decisions can change a game. You work for 90 minutes, and sometimes one moment decides everything.”
He said he was not targeting any one competition. “I don’t want to complain about referees in the Nations League or Premier League, I just want consistency,” he said.
“If there is contact and it affects the attacker, at least take another look. I’ll probably get fined for saying this, but honestly, I thought it was a penalty.”
Barcola was replaced by Michael Olise in the 77th minute. Olise scored the winner in the 88th minute.
France lead Nations League Group A1 with six points from two games. They host Italy on Friday and Belgium on Monday, while Liverpool return to Premier League action against Manchester City on 11 October.
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