Home Football Ancelotti says van Dijk deserved a red card for tackle on Mertens

Ancelotti says van Dijk deserved a red card for tackle on Mertens

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Napoli manager Carlo Ancelotti said that Liverpool defender Virgil van dijk should have been sent off for his tackle on Dries Mertens in the 13th minute. Van Dijk made a slide tackle on Mertens and in the process, his studs hit the Belgian forward’s ankle. The Dutchman eventually received a yellow card for this tackle.

Van Dijk felt that he won the ball fair but Ancelotti begged to differ. Following the match, the former Chelsea and Real Madrid manager said, “I’ve seen it on the video, I think it was a red card. There were a lot of questions about VAR. When VAR comes in to the Champions League, it’s too late.”

Liverpool eventually won the match 1-0 thanks to a goal from Mohamed Salah in the 34th minute. With PSG thrashing Red Star Belgrade 4-1, Napoli slipped to third in their group on virtue of goals scored. This meant that the Naples outfit will have to play in the Round of 32 of the Europa League.

Ancelotti said, “We knew that Liverpool would put us under a lot more pressure, they were very aggressive. It was something we planned for, we knew the intensity was going to be a lot different from the first game we played. That was something we had to try and cope with. You can’t expect to come to a place like Liverpool and expect to create 10 really good chances, we created one or two and didn’t have the luck that we needed.”

Napoli’s next match is a Serie A fixture against Cagliari on Sunday.

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