Liverpool's Virgil van Dijk snapped back at Paris Saint-Germain sporting advisor Luis Campos during a heated exchange in the Parc des Princes tunnel on Wednesday night. Amidst the turmoil of the half-time interval, as both teams headed to the dressing rooms, PSG were incensed with referee Davide Massa's decision not to send off Ibrahima Konate after an incident involving Bradley Barcola.
Konate seemed to barge into Barcola, causing him to fall and appeal for a push in the back by his fellow countryman. Despite VAR checking the episode, play continued without penalty to Liverpool, much to Konate's relief. However, Campos, who has been linked with a move to Arsenal, vehemently protested to the officials, shouting, "It's a red card or a penalty, in every part of the world," as captured in footage by Canal Plus.
Countering Campos’ frustration, the commanding Reds captain Van Dijk shouted back: "Come on, this is not Ligue 1 brother."
But rather than soothing tensions, Campos kept insisting: "Red card or penalty, in every part of football!"
TNT Sports pundits Ally McCoist and Rio Ferdinand expressed their views that Konate was fortunate to avoid discipline, with the former Manchester United defender stating on air: "That is a foul.
"I think it might just be outside the box. If that is not a red card I will be amazed. It will be a shame if it does go down to 10 against 11 in that sense because you want the best players playing each other equally in the 90 minutes."
PSG's midfielder Vitinha refrained from criticising the contentious decision as he believed his team outplayed the Reds, saying: "The foul on Barcola? It was difficult to see. I can't talk without seeing it and we're not going to hide behind that."
Konate himself was insistent that he didn't commit a foul on Barcola, asserting to French TV, "There was a VAR check. 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 don'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 for me."
Liverpool gained an invaluable advantage when Harvey Elliott scored swiftly after coming on, putting them ahead by 1-0 before the decisive second leg at Anfield next week.
This article first appeared on The Mirror.