Paris Saint-Germain full-back Dani Alves has rejected accusations that he wiped mucus on the back of Cristiano Ronaldo’s shirt in the Champions League on Tuesday.

Video footage appears to show Alves rubbing his nose before touching Ronaldo’s sleeve, but Alves is adamant that it’s misleading.

PSG ended up crashing out of Europe after losing 5-2 on aggregate.

“In my job, it’s not painful to be eliminated because that’s part of day-to-day life, but to have to see and read stupid things like this,” Alves wrote on Twitter, as translated by Spanish newspaper AS. “I will continue competing like I have done and leave the nonsense to stupid people.”

Ronaldo battled with Alves throughout the Champions League tie, at one point aiming a kick that just missed the Brazilian.

Their rivalry goes back to their El Clasico days, with Alves spending eight seasons at Barcelona.

Paris Saint-Germain is beginning to gather the names of potential replacements for manager Unai Emery, and Mauricio Pochettino and Antonio Conte apparently top the French behemoth’s list.

Another early elimination from the Champions League on Tuesday – this time at the hands of Real Madrid in the round-of-16 stage – ended Emery’s hopes of extending his contract beyond its expiration this summer, according to ESPN’s Jonathan Johnson.

And a change at the helm could be made sooner rather than later after Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the emir of Qatar and founder of the consortium that owns Paris Saint-Germain, left the Parc des Princes before the 2-1 second-leg defeat to Los Blancos concluded. The notion of having an interim manager has been mooted, with assistants Maxwell and Zoumana Camara linked to a short-term role.

Pochettino has long been admired by the PSG hierarchy due to his exploits in England in charge of Southampton and, most notably, Tottenham Hotspur. Some sources told Johnson that a move for the Argentinian seems to be inevitable, and a bond already exists between Pochettino and PSG through his work in the club’s defence between 2001 and 2003.

Conte is also on club president and CEO Nasser Al-Khelaifi’s radar due to his ability to draw short-term success. The Italian’s relationship with his employers at Chelsea has been under question this season as he oversees a limp Premier League title defence, and has been quoted questioning the club’s ambition and transfer policy.

Outside bets to replace Emery are Andre Villa-Boas and Carlo Ancelotti. Sporting director Antero Henrique is reportedly keen on the former, but his own post at the club could be untenable as the continental failure threatens a shake-up at various levels. If Henrique leaves, that could usher in Ancelotti’s return due to the decorated manager wanting a greater say in transfers than he experienced in his first tenure, which ended in 2013.

Unai Emery believes there is no shame in being eliminated from the Champions League by title holder Real Madrid, and is confident Paris Saint-Germain can capture the trophy in the future.

Whether the Spaniard is given another chance to win the tournament with PSG remains to be seen. Les Parisiens limped out of the round-of-16 stage in a flimsy showing which contrasted with the Parc des Princes’ explosive home support.

“We all want to win this competition quickly. We’ll continue with patience, and build a team that can win,” Emery told ESPN.

Related: Emery’s PSG tenure fizzling out after meek European elimination

“I’m sure this team can win the Champions League. The supporters will see that Paris will win this competition one day.

“Losing to Madrid is not a disappointment, but going out in the last 16 is.”

Paris Saint-Germain is still in with a good chance of capturing a domestic treble, but the lavish spending overseen by the club’s Qatari owners is intended to establish Emery’s side as a world force. In a two-legged bout which largely fell below expectations in terms of quality, PSG was eventually overshadowed by Real despite a promising start.

“The first leg was the key because we were better over the first 80 minutes than them,” Emery claimed.

“They controlled 60 percent of this match and we couldn’t do enough in the 40 percent we controlled.”

Related – Poll: Should Emery or PSG brass take blame for Champions League exit?

The last-16 exit means PSG hasn’t ventured further than the quarter-finals since the 1994-95 edition of the Champions League. That tournament had half the number of teams seen in today’s version, enabling PSG to just beat Barcelona before it was booted out the semi-final stage by AC Milan.