Sevilla coach Sampaoli agreed with his own sending-off

SEVILLE ( Reuters) - Sevilla coach Jorge Sampaoli agreed that he deserved to be sent off for dissent during his team's controversial 3-1 defeat by Juventus in the Champions League on Tuesday.

Sampaoli also refused to criticise referee Mark Clattenburg who sent off Sevilla forward Franco Vazquez in the first half and awarded Juventus a controversial penalty.

"It wouldn't speak well of me if I talked about the referees today," said the former Chile coach who was clearly livid during the game but had calmed down by the time he faced the media.

"My sending-off was correct because I complained and protested without justification. It's not up to me to analyse the referee's work, and that includes Vazquez's sending-off.

"Of course, I protested at the time, but not now, although it's true that I was a little surprised by his sending-off."

Sampaoli insisted that Sevilla were the better side until Juventus scored twice in the last five minutes.

"Even with 10 players, we had more chances and it seems unfair that we lost the game, based on the chances we created and the few that Juventus had," he said.

(Writing by Brian Homewood, editing by Pritha Sarkar)