Empire of the Kop
·06 de março de 2025
‘I’m telling you’: Konate hits back at red card accusation in impassioned post-match statement

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Yahoo sportsEmpire of the Kop
·06 de março de 2025
Liverpool fans were on cloud nine after leaving Paris with a one-goal lead, yet much of the post-match talk was around whether Ibou Konate should have seen red.
Speaking after the game, our defender told Canal+ (via The Liverpool ECHO): “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 from me.”
It was a great response from the Parisian to speak with the French media and defend himself after the 1-0 victory, in the round of 16 clash.
(Photo by Alex Pantling/Getty Images)
He wasn’t the only person who jumped to defend the situation, with Virgil van Dijk clashing with opposition officials in order to protect his mate.
One former FIFA referee has stated that they believed that our No.5 should have been sent off after his push on Bradley Barcola.
As the 25-year-old said though, both referee Davide Massa and the VAR witnessed this same incident and didn’t think it was worthy of further punishment.
It probably was borderline and would perhaps be a decision that if given against you, you’d feel aggrieved.
However, this certainly shouldn’t overshadow what was an otherwise brilliant defensive performance and we certainly showed enough in the game as to why we couldn’t be beaten.
Harvey Elliott’s finishing touch may have been unexpected at the time but let’s hope we can build upon this lead at Anfield next week.
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