February 21 – UEFA has opened an investigation into Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini’s comments about the referee following Tuesday’s 2-0 Champions League loss to Barcelona. Pellegrini was uncharacteristically critical of Swedish referee Jonas Eriksson, claiming he was “not impartial to both teams”.
UEFA said a disciplinary inspector had been appointed to assess the remarks. “Based on the outcome, a decision will be taken on whether disciplinary proceedings will be opened,” UEFA said.
The first leg of the last-16 encounter was delicately poised at 0-0 early in the second half when Eriksson sent off City defender Martin Demichelis for a foul on Lionel Messi.
Although the Argentine superstar was through on goal, replays suggested the incident was just outside the box, but a penalty was awarded which Messi converted before Barca went on to double score.
In his post-match news conference Pellegrini suggested Eriksson wanted to make amends for an error in a previous game when he wrongly made a decision against the Catalan giants.
“From the beginning I felt the referee was not impartial to both teams,” he said. ” I think it was not a good idea to put a referee from Sweden in charge of such an important match, especially a referee who has made an important mistake against Barcelona in a previous match.”
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