"The refereeing has not let us compete" - Real Sociedad coach calls out referee following UEL loss to Manchester United
Real Sociedad boss Imanol Alguacil has accused referee Benoit Bastien of being biased towards Manchester United. He believed that the match deserved a better official, and it was not possible to match the Red Devils as they were not allowed to compete.
Speaking to the media after the match, Alguacil stated that Bastien was not capable of handling a big match in the Europa League. He added that the bias started as early as the 14th minute and said via (GOAL):
“It’s cruel, you don’t even know how to explain it without making excuses. United were better, but I would have liked to compete on a one-to-one basis. The referee didn’t want to whistle the only penalty that was and he whistled the ones that weren’t. We didn’t deserve a referee like that, neither us nor Manchester United."
“There was not a neutral refereeing performance. I feel very sorry for the fans, there was no possible match – not only because of those decisions, from the 14th minute it has been continuous, it is a shame. There is nothing to blame on the players, the refereeing has not let us compete. We started the game well, I don’t know what would have happened.”
Manchester United won 4-1 on the night and went through with a 5-2 aggregate win. Bruno Fernandes scored a hattrick, with Diogo Dalot scoring the final goal of the game to seal the win.
Ruben Amorim on Manchester United's win over Real Sociedad
Ruben Amorim spoke to the media after the win over Real Sociedad and stated it was a tough week and they needed the result. He added that the squad is finally getting into shape as their injured players are returning.
He said (via BBC):
"In this competition it is completely different - we can be the dominant side in physicality. It was a tough week, but a good week. I am also learning how to use players like Casemiro. Without a lot of options we are trying to put our players in the best positions. You can feel they have more freedom because of the one game in Spain [first leg against Real Sociedad] we tried to use the pace of Garnacho on the right."
Manchester United are sitting 14th in the Premier League table and face Leicester City this weekend. They face Ruud van Nistelrooy, who managed them earlier this season on an interim basis after they sacked Erik ten Hag.
