Wenger slams Marciniak for controversial Inter penalty decision

The clash between Inter and Barcelona sparked heated debates about refereeing standards among players, coaches, fans, and pundits alike. The latter, too, did not shy away from sharply criticizing Szymon Marciniak's officiating.

Details: The Polish referee came under fire from FIFA expert Arsène Wenger, who, to put it mildly, was baffled by the decision to award a penalty for Pau Cubarsí's challenge on Lautaro Martínez. According to the former Arsenal manager, the Argentine striker deliberately sought contact with the defender.

Quote: “At full speed, that’s a great tackle. The defender wins the duel, and that should be the end of it. But everything changes when you slow it down—and that’s not football anymore. Look at what Martínez does. He knows he won’t score in this situation, so he starts leaning more and more into Cubarsí.

He’s clearly looking for the penalty, and in my view, the referee made the wrong call. People need to see who touches the ball first. Who gets there first. That’s Cubarsí, and everything else is down to Lautaro. For me, it’s clearly not a penalty, and you can’t blow the whistle for something like that, especially when, live, it looked like a perfectly clean challenge,” Wenger said live on BeINSPORTS.

Reminder: Previously, Wenger suggested scrapping the automatic Champions League spot for the Europa League winner.