Sapinto after Atalanta: the referee did not take our two penalties

After the defeat of Paphos against Atalanta, the former head coach of Esteghlal criticized the performance of the referee while accepting the superiority of the Italian opponent.

According to "Sports Three", Paphos Cyprus lost 3-1 against Atalanta in their first match in the league stage of the European Conference League. After this game, Ricardo Sapinto considered his team's weak start and two unannounced penalties as influential points in the result.

Sapinto said about the conditions of the match: "We played against a very big team. Atalanta manager is lucky to have two quality players in each position. After conceding the goal in the first minute, we lost our concentration and then we conceded the second goal. After that, the situation became very difficult for us."

"In the dressing room, I told the players to be calm, enjoy the match and follow the tactical plan," he explained about his talks between the two halves. "In the second half, we played more regularly, more aggressively and smarter, and we had a better show."

The Portuguese head coach of Paphos protested the referee's decision and continued: "It's a pity that the referee took two penalties from us. Atalanta were definitely the better side and deserved to win, but I would have liked those two penalties to have been taken for us to see how the game went. "If those scenes were called penalties, we could have fought for a better result."

Continuing his criticisms, Sapinto said: "The referee did not show us the respect he should have. "If penalties were announced, maybe the course of the match would have been different."

When asked if not using the rotation system and the presence of the main players in the lineup was a risky decision, he said: "There was no risk. We chose our most prepared and best players for this match. "We didn't start the game well and it cost us dearly."

In the end, Sapinto said about Paphos' crucial match against Apoel: "We will have a very difficult match against a strong team. "Apoel is at our level, they are fighting for the championship and similar goals with us, and we have a difficult game ahead of us."