PSG claim referee swore at them during defeat at Manchester City

Paris Saint-Germain’s Leandro Paredes was sworn at by the Dutch referee Bjorn Kuipers during Tuesday’s Champions League semi-final second leg defeat at Manchester City, his teammate Ander Herrera has claimed.

City reached the final of Europe’s elite club competition for the first time thanks to a 2-0 victory to secure a 4-1 aggregate win. PSG were left angered by the referee, who sent off Ángel Di María in the 69th minute for an off-the-ball stamp on Fernandinho.

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“We talk about respect with referees – the referee tonight said fuck off to Leandro Paredes,” Herrera told the French multimedia outlet RMC Sport. “If we say that we get a three- or four-match ban.”

Herrera’s teammate Marco Verratti said in his post-match interview that he too was abused by the official. Uefa has been approached by the Guardian for comment.

PSG’s manager, Mauricio Pochettino, said he believed his players. “I didn’t hear anything from the touchline,” he said. “If something is there and is how they explained, maybe Uefa will investigate the situation. But now that’s not an excuse I can put in front of you … the most important thing is we’re not in the final and that’s why we feel really sad.”

Uefa’s usual practice is to await its officials’ reports from a match before making an assessment.

Meanwhile, the CBS co-commentator Jim Beglin apologised for attributing the dismissal of Di María, an Argentina international, to his “Latino temperament”.

Beglin tweeted: “I apologise for my culturally insensitive remarks... I wrongly used a racial stereotype. This was inappropriate and unacceptable. Words have a strong impact and I fully understand the severity of what I said when Di María was sent off. I’ll learn from this and be better moving forward.”