He only had it for Benoît Bastien. After OL’s good performance until they were finally defeated by PSG, Jorge Maciel launched a long criticism of the referee. “There were 59,000 people in the stadium and there were 4 of them who didn’t see the mistake we saw,” lamented the Lyon assistant coach into the Ligue 1+ microphone.
According to him, there were two situations that clearly escaped the referee’s attention. “The second goal was a scandal,” he assured us, regarding Vitinha’s potential foul. “Nico’s mistake was a penalty and a red card,” he continued, regarding Nicolás Tagliafico’s action which hit the post despite Lee Kang-in pulling his shirt. “Up front, this is the best team in Europe. I don’t think they need to play with 16 men, I also count VAR, to come and play against a team that plays on Thursday.”
Finally, Maciel did not understand Argentina’s expulsion in added time. “If the rules were the same for everyone, Nico was not sent off. If it was the rules of football, he was sent off the field. I don’t understand why Zabarnyi didn’t take a card. How many mistakes did they make without receiving a card? »
“It happened in arrogance, we didn’t even have a chance to discuss”
Most of all, he lamented Benoît Bastien’s lack of pedagogy. “It happened in arrogance, we didn’t even have a chance to discuss,” he complained after trying to talk to the referee at the final whistle.
“It’s important for us to do real reflection because we play from one week to the next and the rules are not the same,” he concluded, citing situations where red cards or penalties were assessed differently by referees in other matches on the day.
🎙️ Matthieu Louis-Jean’s reaction:
“Big disappointment tonight. First of all I want to congratulate the team, we saw a great OL, a brave and proud team, who gave everything. The coach had a great match, the players too.”
But there is a lot of frustration and… pic.twitter.com/NMSmVcSXau
— Olympique Lyonnais (@OL) November 9, 2025
At the same time, the hierarchy is also increasing. “Mr Bastien’s refereeing was truly a disaster. (…) I didn’t see him after the game, but he still didn’t say anything. He never said anything,” complained Matthieu Louis-Jean, sporting director, in the mixed zone.
“The real problem is consistency in officiating. At a certain point, you have to ask yourself the right questions, sit around the table and discuss it seriously. There, it starts to do us a lot of good. We fought to the best of our abilities. It was a total incomprehension considering the officiating tonight. »
Lyon are seventh in Ligue 1 after twelve days.
