Gallardo slams referee after River Plate exit: "Lost control" | OneFootball

River Plate bid farewell to the Copa Libertadores on Wednesday night, after losing to Palmeiras 3-1 in the second leg of the quarterfinals at Allianz Parque. After the match, coach Marcelo Gallardo lamented the result and complained about the refereeing.

“The referee did not know how to handle the match at that moment. First, he calls something he didn't see because he was facing away. He signals a handball because he wanted to call it, and then there's one of their players down, he goes to attend to him, and it all becomes a mix of everything. In this confusion, we gave the advantage to the opponent, and that can't happen, but clearly, the referee had a lot of influence. I didn't like what happened in the last five minutes when we were still in the game,” said Marcelo Gallardo in a press conference.

Due to the defeat in the first leg at Mâs Monumental, by 2-1, River Plate needed to win by two goals at Allianz Parque to advance. Thus, just eight minutes into the game, the Argentine team opened the scoring with Maximiliano Salas.

In the second half, Palmeiras improved, managed to turn the game around with goals from Vitor Roque and Flaco López (two), and won 3-1.

“The goals we conceded at the end are not justified by how the match was. It was balanced and even favorable while we were focused, but what happened at the end, combined with poor refereeing, ended up taking us out of the game,” declared Gallardo.

“Costly Lapses in Concentration”

With an aggregate score of 5-2, Verdão secured its spot in the Copa Libertadores semifinals and eliminated River Plate. Now, the Brazilian team awaits the winner of the clash between LDU and São Paulo, who face each other this Thursday at 7 PM (Brasília time), to know their opponent.

“I'm angry because we let a match slip away that we could have won quickly. We played a good first half. Then they equalized, but we were still in the game. Later, we had chances to get ahead again. I didn't like what happened in the last five minutes when we were still competing. There were lapses in concentration that cost us dearly, and that makes me irritated,” concluded Marcelo Gallardo.

River Plate's Schedule

Standings Situation

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.