Jesse Marsch is not one to back down or bite his tongue. The American coach has made a career of being open with regards to the media and not holding back his thoughts. The RB Leipzig boss was visibly angry with some of the calls made by referee Andreas Ekberg in his sides 2-2 draw with PSG in Group A of the UEFA Champions League.
The game was a seesaw battle where RB Leipzig jumped out in front on a Christopher Nkunku goal in the 8th minute of the match, only for PSG to turn the tables with two goals from Georginio Wijnaldum in the 21st and 39th minute. Then a late penalty tied it all up when Dominik Szoboszlai scored in stoppage time in the 93rd minute.
The result leaves Jesse Marsch’s side bottom of the group with 1 point and fighting to qualify for the Europa League. PSG now sit second in back of Manchester City by one point. At the end of the match, which saw a lot of 50/50 calls go in favor of PSG, Jesse Marsch slammed referee Andreas Ekberg.
Jesse Marsch comments on referee Andreas Ekberg performance
Jesse Marsch, Head Coach of RB Leipzig receives a yellow card from match referee Andreas Ekberg (Getty Images)
Jesse Marsch told reporters at the end of the match that Andreas Ekberg seemed biased in his calls during the tight contest. “It’s hard to get respect from the refs. It seemed as if the referee wanted to get an autograph from Neymar.”
Marsch, who received a yellow card from Ekberg for protesting some of the calls the referee made during the first half also stated: “I have the impression that referees decide in favor of the big teams instead of the small ones.”
RB Leipzig is turning in one of their most disappointing Champions League performances in recent memory, a lot has to do with the team, which made the semifinals in 2019/2020, being sandwiched in a group with PSG and Manchester City. In the Bundesliga after a rough start RB Leipzig is unbeaten in 5 matches and sit in eighth place, fans have begun to take to Jesse Marsch who has coached in the Red Bull family since 2015 when he started with Red Bull New York then Red Bull Salzburg in Austria winning 4 titles, and is now at RB Leipzig, where he was briefly an assistant in 2018/2019.
