Gary Neville branded the officiating during Valencia’s 3-0 home defeat to Athletic Bilbao in La Liga on Sunday “a joke”.
Los Che suffered a late collapse as Sabin Merino, Iker Muniain and Aritz Aduriz – the latter of whom started as a substitute against his former club – all scored in a seven-minute spell, but the Englishman felt his side were denied two clear penalties by referee Jesus Gil Manzano.
“The refereeing seemed like a joke,” he said after the game.
“We were very good for 70 minutes, but the 0-3 is very difficult to explain.
“We should’ve scored two or three goals before the 0-1.
“The defeat seems appalling, but it doesn’t reflect what happened on the pitch.
“[On boos for Dani Parejo, whose backheel led to Athletic’s second goal], he’s always trained and played well, so it seems ridiculous to blame one player.
“Now I’m only thinking about the meeting with Malaga and then Atletico Madrid.
“After that comes the Europa League tie against Athletic.”
