“Not his best day” – Manager fuming with referee display, “quite biased” to Tottenham

Villarreal manager Marcelino García Toral has accused the referee of being ‘biased’ towards the home side in their 1-0 defeat away to Tottenham Hotspur.

AS have comments from the Villarreal manager today in which he admits he believed Tottenham should have seen Micky van de Ven and Xavi Simons sent off.

Thomas Frank’s side started their Champions League campaign with a with 1-0 win over Tuesday evening, with an early own goal from Villarreal’s Luiz Junior securing all three points.

They were deserved winners in a tight affair in which they kept Villarreal at bay throughout and ensured they finished the game without a single shot on target.

Marcelino, though, believes that they weren’t helped by the referee, who missed two clear red card incidents and favoured the home side throughout.

“They were two blatant fouls,” he said.

“The second one should be dealt with by the disciplinary committee. I saw it clearly on the pitch and even more so on the television.

“Simons’ foul was a kick without playing the ball. It was the second one with many minutes left to play. The referee did not have his best day. He was quite biased.”

The loss continued a poor record in England for Villarreal, who haven’t beaten an English side away from home in the Champions League since a 2-1 win over Everton all the way back in 2005.

This was ultimately a missed opportunity to turn that record around and the Villarreal manager believes his side deserved more after competing well with Tottenham.

“The result was unfair given what both teams did,” he added.

“I’m sad about the result but proud of how the team competed and performed against a great opponent. It’s a shame we didn’t get at least a draw. If anyone deserved to win, it was us.

“For many, it was their first Champions League experience, and they proved to themselves that they have what it takes to compete at this level.”