Barcelona Blast Refereeing After Champions League Exit To Atletico Madrid

Barcelona have launched a furious attack on the officiating after their Champions League quarter-final exit to Atletico Madrid, with forward Raphinha calling the tie “a robbery”.

Barca beat Atletico 2-1 in the second leg but crashed out 3-2 on aggregate. The match was dominated by refereeing flashpoints, including a red card for the Catalan side in each match after on-field reviews for denial of a goalscoring opportunity.

In the first leg, teenager Pau Cubarsi was dismissed by referee Istvan Kovacs. The return leg brought a similar outcome as defender Eric Garcia was sent off by Clement Turpin in the closing stages.

Barcelona were also angered when Kovacs and VAR official Christian Dingert allowed play to continue after Atletico defender Marc Pubill handled the ball inside his own penalty area during the first leg.

“For me, this match was a robbery. Not just this match but the other one as well,” Raphinha said. “The refereeing was really bad, the decisions [Turpin] makes are unbelievable.

“I don’t know how many fouls Atletico made but the referee didn’t give them a single yellow card.

“I really want to understand why they’re so afraid that Barcelona will come and win.”

Atletico finished the second leg without a booking, while Barcelona received one yellow card alongside the red card. The Spanish club later complained to UEFA about what they described as a “grave lack of VAR intervention”, but their protest was ruled inadmissible.

“It was tough, especially when you realise you have to work three times as hard to win the match,” Raphinha added. “I think this tie was quite misleading, in my view. I think everyone can make mistakes; everyone is human.

“But when the mistakes keep repeating themselves in exactly the same way, I think that’s something we need to pay attention to.”

UEFA said its disciplinary body will review the referee’s reports before deciding on any next steps, including a possible charge for the former Leeds United winger.

Atletico goalkeeper Juan Musso rejected the complaints. He said, “You can’t say this match was stolen from them; that’s ridiculous. They acted as if they should have had three penalties and we should have had four sendings-off. We won on the pitch, 2-0 away, and when you’re the last man back, you get a red card.”