The grounded Paris St Germain striker Neymar Jr lashed out at the video assistant referees (VAR) system on Wednesday, calling the late penalty decision that led to their elimination from the Champions League a “disgrace”.
The French champions won 2-0 away at Manchester United in the first leg and although they were 2-1 down on the night they were going through on aggregate until the stoppage time penalty award gave United a shock 3-1 win.
The penalty, awarded for handball against Presnel Kimpembe after the referee consulted the VAR, put the English club through on away goals.
The decision infuriated Neymar, who watched the match from the stands after returning a few hours earlier from partying at Rio de Janeiro’s famous carnival.
“This is a disgrace!! And they put four guys there who don’t understand football to look at a slow motion replay … It’s just not possible!!!”
“How is a guy going to hold his hand behind his back,” he wrote in Portuguese on Instagram, before finishing with an expletive commonly used in Brazil.
Neymar missed both legs of the tie after injuring his foot in January.
The Brazil captain joined the French club from Barcelona in August 2017 for a world record fee and the Champions League has become the holy grail for him and a club that have spent big to fulfil that goal.
However, this latest defeat marked the third time in three years they have failed to make the last eight of the Champions League.
Even though Wednesday’s loss was just their third in 51 European games at the Parc des Princes, they have never reached the semi-finals of the continent’s premier club competition.