"Suarez penalty was a joke"
Deniz Aytekin, the official in charge of the Champions League last-16 second leg between Barcelona and PSG, has been heavily criticised by the press.
Barcelona accomplished an impressive feat by coming back from a 4-goal deficit. However, the referee's influence on some of the actions in the game have slightly overshadowed the Catalan's achievement.
Aytekin has been ticked off mostly for having pointed to the penalty spot after the Uruguayan striker went down in the box, with no apparent contact coming from any PSG players.
It has chiefly been his own country's press who were not forgiving after the German official's performance, apparently aiding Barcelona's accomplishment.
Nespaper Tagesspiegel's message was clear: "Aytekin helped Barcelona's comeback."
A German commentator stated: “Everyone knows that Barcelona's miracle was only possible thanks to Deniz Aytekin. I think he can probably forget about taking holidays in France for the rest of his life...“
11Freunde described the penalty as "a joke - a bad one at that" , also adding: ”It was a brutal decision, the referee Deniz Aytekin was conned by Luis Suárez and clearly could not tolerate any more whinging and theatrics from the Uruguayan".