Shakhtar Donetsk coach Mircea Lucescu has hit out at the officiating of his side's 4-0 Champions League loss to Real Madrid on Tuesday, adding that smaller clubs are treated unfairly in European games.
Shakhtar had midfielder Taras Stepanenko sent off at the Santiago Bernabeu, while they also conceded two penalties as Madrid romped to victory in the Group A opener.
Lucescu, however, felt Stepanenko's two yellow cards were shown too quickly, while he expressed his anger at the awarding of the first penalty after Cristiano Ronaldo's goal-bound shot came off Darijo Srna's back.
"It's very difficult to comment on this game," he is quoted as saying on Shakhtar's official website.
"In the second half they sent off Stepanenko. Yesterday, at the news conference, I said that I wish only one thing: to be respected. Unfortunately, in matches against Europe's top sides they officiate all the time not in our favour -- versus Manchester United, Juventus, Bayern [Munich] and so on.
"There are two manners of refereeing. To us, the lower-level teams, the yellow card is shown straight away. While to the other, the top teams, the ref indicates that he makes the last warning. Plus, the first penalty was nowhere near being the case. The ball hit Darijo's back, without touching his hand."
Lucescu was also unhappy with the decision to give Madrid a second penalty, saying: "In the situation of awarding the second spot kick, [Dani] Carvajal was the first to handle the ball, and only then [Marcio] Azevedo did it."
The Shakhtar boss added: "It's very disappointing that I have to give such a comment. I don't want to do it. Real Madrid is a great club with good players.
"Once again, I regret to say that the officials affected the game. That means disrespect to the players and to the work of the coaches who prepare them for the game. Real Madrid don't need any such assistance."
Shakhtar defender Oleksandr Kucher was equally disappointed by some of the officiating and was particularly frustrated that the first penalty appeared to be awarded by an assistant referee standing behind the goal.
"The key moment of the match was the first penalty kick against us," he said. "In my opinion, it was awarded by the referee who was behind goal; one could not see anything from there.
"It was another penalty kick awarded against us by a referee, who is behind the goal -- and it becomes crucial again. The same happened in Munich, for example."