With 30 minutes gone and the score still 0-0, Neymar received the ball inside the penalty area and was involved in a collision with Atletico right-back Adriano. However, Ricci deemed that the Santos striker had dived, and booked him as a result.
Atletico went on to win the game 2-0 with second-half goals from Anselmo and Diogo Campos, and Neymar was in no doubt as to the reason Santos lost the game.
“[Our defeat] was the referee"s fault," he said when interviewed after the game.
His teammate Ganso echoed his sentiments, adding: “We should have had a penalty for the foul on Neymar."
Santos were concerned before the game with the appointment of Ricci as referee, due to a personal feud with Neymar.
Last year, in another Santos defeat, Neymar blamed the referee for the loss on Twitter, before deleting the comment and saying it had been written by someone else.
Ricci opened up a lawsuit as a result, demanding $20,000 in compensation for moral damages.
