Marseille coach Roberto De Zerbe once again expressed his anger at the referees after his team's 1-1 draw with Strasbourg on Sunday.
The French giants have lost more ground in the title race, falling to nine points behind leaders Paris Saint-Germain – who are yet to lose a game this season.
De Zerbe knows his side cannot afford to drop any more points if they are to have any chance of catching Luis Enrique's side, and he could not help but express his frustration after the match.
“Since I've been in France, I've seen things that I don't always understand and it's not just OM,” he said. “Maybe because I'm Italian… I came to Olympique de Marseille because it's the biggest French club.
“I respect everyone but the media also has to take a stand sometimes.
“Have you seen the statistics for this match? Yes, we deserved to win, we are ahead in many areas, and we have three or four times the expected goals of Strasbourg.
“That should have been enough to win however Like Tuesday against LilleWe didn't get what we deserved. I see teams winning games by doing far fewer good things than us.
De Zerbe's Marseille club has been on the end of some poor decisions from referees this season, which has seen them lose ground in the title race as a result.
Like Jose Mourinho in Türkiye, the former Brighton boss is angry that there is no longer a buzz around the standard of refereeing.
But De Zerbe eventually admitted that they cannot make excuses and his players must learn to finish matches.
He added: “It is unfortunate that this happened at such an important time of the season. We still have seven players injured, who played well, but there was fatigue. Neil, who is a player I like, played the last three games in a row.
“Greenwood is not used to playing many games in a row. Cornelius did not play in his usual position because Lirola did not feel like playing for 90 minutes. Murillo, Kondogbia, Rongier, Wahi, Harit, it is a lot. We have to deal with it and not use it as excuses.” .
