Marseille left with 'huge feeling of injustice' as Roberto De Zerbi and his players rage at refereeing decision in Atalanta loss

Marseille welcomed Atalanta to Stade Velodrome on Wednesday evening in a crucial Champions League encounter for both teams. The match eventually ended in a narrow 1-0 win for the Italian outfit, with substitute Lazar Samardzic scoring the lone goal in the 90th minute, just minutes after he was introduced off the bench. 

However, the game has sparked outrage from several Marseille players, as well as the head coach and sporting director. Just moments prior to the goal, the hosts made strong claims for a handball by Ederson inside the Atalanta area, which were swiftly rejected by the referee. Pressed deep in his own box, the Brazilian midfielder’s touch lifted the ball onto his arm, but the referee opted not to award a penalty. Atalanta immediately broke forward, and Samardzic capitalized on the counterattack to score.

After the match, several Marseille players expressed their thoughts on the controversial decision. "At least he should be fair, go and see [the video], go and check. Take the time. It's an important match, it's the Champions League," defender Nayef Aguerd told Canal+ almost immediately after the match ended. "He doesn't even want to go and see if there's a penalty. I'm proud of the team. We'll continue to work and improve. It's hard to find the words tonight."

Left-back Ulisses Garcia was left frustrated, too, saying: "A huge feeling of injustice, you see the hand clearly out. We're all sure it's a penalty and then we concede a goal. It's really difficult. We see the penalty that was given in Madrid, there was no penalty, and then here we see a hand clearly out. They don't whistle, we don't understand."

Marseille head coach De Zerbi was shown a yellow card by referee Jose Maria Sanchez Martinez when he protested the decision to not check a potential handball on Atalanta's Ederson. After the game, he voiced his frustrations and labelled the entire episode "dubious".

"It's a shame to have lost, they're a strong team," he told Canal+ after the match. "The first 20 minutes weren't good, not up to our level. We didn't play well, we lost possession too often. After that, we played better, we absolutely didn't deserve to lose.

"Then there's this somewhat dubious episode… I'm optimistic. We had eight or nine injured players, important players. I must remind you of that. 

"I'm not a referee, I don't know the rules perfectly. But I have a good memory and I know we lost a match in Madrid for a similar reason. That's all I can think of. I think we've suffered three bizarre defeats. We haven't been lucky. The rules are different in Madrid and Marseille. In Lisbon, we also lose in isolated incidents. At 11 against 11, we never lose. We probably even win. And there's tonight."

Marseille sporting director Medhi Benatia didn't mince his words either. "For my part, yes. It's hard to accept [the result]," the Marseille chief admitted. "They say it's a natural position (Ederson's arm being held away from the body), but I don't think it's natural to have your arm like that. You see [Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang] preparing to shoot, so his arm completely changes the trajectory of the ball.

"Everything they tell us at the beginning of the year when they hold meetings... For me, there was everything that should have led to that penalty being awarded. Then we conceded the goal that killed us, so it was obviously a big responsibility. 

“Also, I didn’t appreciate the arrogant attitude of the referees. After these incidents, we have to focus and do our job to the best of our ability.” 

The result leaves Les Phoceens in 25th position on the overall Champions League standings with just three points. While they are in a strong position domestically, sitting in second position just two behind than Paris Saint-Germain, their European campaign is in danger of falling apart if they fail to win their next couple of games. Their next opponents in the competition are Newcastle, Union Saint-Gilloise, Liverpool and Club Brugge.