Gary Neville blasts "joke" referee after Valencia defeat to Athletic Bilbao

Valencia manager Gary Neville has fumed at "joke" referee Gil Manzano after his side were beaten 3-0 at home by Athletic Bilbao in La Liga.

Neville's side had won four matches in a row heading into today's game, but were resoundingly beaten by the Basque outfit.

Manzano waved away two penalty appeals from Los Che, and Neville struggled to contain his annoyance in his post-match press conference

"Today, I thought the referee was a joke," Neville told reporters. "It was embarrassing we didn't get two penalties. I've not blamed referees in any of our games, but I thought his management of the game was awful. Some of the things he did were incredible.

"We've been a very soft coaching staff towards referees, we've tried to be respectful because we know its a difficult job, but I don't understand how we didn't have one of two penalties, one for Andre Gomes, the other for the handball.

"I don't have a clue. And he booked three of our players and I don't know how many fouls they had compared to us."

Valencia will face Athletic twice more in the next month after drawing their fellow Spanish outfit in the last 16 of the Europa League.