Brighton’s De Zerbi told to leave press conference following Europa League confusion
Brighton manager Roberto De Zerbi was left red-faced and embarrassed after his side’s Europa League campaign came to a crashing halt.
Brighton manager Roberto De Zerbi was left red-faced on his Europa League debut after his side lost 3-2 to AEK Athens at the Amex.
The Seagulls boss looked both delighted and exasperated after seeing his side lose in their first European appearance at the Stadium.
De Zerbi also appeared to forget his media duties after he was told to leave the pre-match press conference.
After losing 5-0 at home to the Greek champions, it was understandable that De Zerbi would have wanted to get his pre-match media duties over with as soon as possible. However, when he arrived to host the press conference in front of a room full of journalists, he was told he had to go.
That’s because De Zerbi forgot that he had to do his broadcast interview with TNT Sports, a UK-based channel, before arriving at the press conference. Still in a daze from the five-goal thrashing, De Zerbi, aged 44, had to wait his turn.
Instead, he was put on hold while AEK Athens manager Matias almeyda was introduced to the press. Finally, De Zerbi followed through on his promise to give an interview to TNT Sports’ tunnel correspondent Jules Breach.
However, the tactician was able to address the press at about 11pm local time – almost an hour past the end of the game – meaning reporters would be arriving late. But the wait was worth it after an entertaining match that saw five goals scored and a whopping 11 bookings.
AEK went ahead in the 11th minute thanks to a brilliant header from former Everton striker Djibril Seddibe to silence the home support.
VAR was also at play in the second half, however, when Brighton were awarded a penalty after Joao Pedro, who had been booked for simulation, stepped up to take the spot-kick and made no mistake.
Gacinovic equalised five minutes before the half-hour mark, but Joao Pedro won another penalty in the middle of the second half, and this time he hit it expertly to level the score at 2-2.
Almeyda’s men, however, would take the victory with 10 minutes remaining, thanks to a goal-line clearance from Joao Pedro. With 13 minutes of injury time remaining, Brighton were unable to find a third goal.
De Zerbi was pleased with his team’s performance after finally being given the opportunity to address the media. “We gave up three goals, including two from set-pieces, and an unbelievable goal in the third,” he said. “We made some mistakes in the final third, Joao Pedro and Igor in particular, but I am proud of what we did. We didn’t show inexperience, but we did show character. We must analyse the performance, and it was good.”
