Brazilian winger says his team were “completely robbed” and accused officials of being “scared” of Barcelona going to semis
Raphinha accused match officials of costing Barcelona a place in the Champions League semifinals after their quarterfinal exit to Atletico Madrid on Tuesday.
Barcelona won 2-1 at the Metropolitano thanks to early goals from Lamine Yamal and Ferran Torres, overturning a two-goal deficit from the first leg to level the tie on aggregate. However, Ademola Lookman scored to put Atletico back in front overall and send them through 3-2 across the two matches.
The tie was effectively decided late on when Eric Garcia was sent off for a last-man challenge on Alexander Sorloth, ending Barcelona’s hopes of forcing extra time.
Raphinha, who missed the game through injury but travelled with the squad, was critical of the officiating.
“The game was completely robbed,” said Raphinha. “The referee had a lot of problems. Some of the decisions he took were incredible. I don’t know how many fouls Atletico made and he didn’t book them.”
Barcelona had also appealed for a penalty in the first half when Dani Olmo went down in the box, but no spot-kick was awarded. The frustration comes after Barcelona lodged a complaint with Uefa over decisions in last week’s first leg. It has already been dismissed.
“It’s human to commit one error, but for it to happen again in another game?” Raphinha said. “We played really well, but this tie was robbed from us.
“It was tough, especially when we see that we need to put in three times the effort to win the match. I really want to understand why [the referee] is so scared of Barca getting through the tie.”
Barcelona created more chances across both legs, registering 15 shots on target to Atletico’s eight and racking up a higher expected goals tally. Head coach Hansi Flick said his side deserved more from the tie.
“We played a fantastic first half tonight,” Flick said. “We had to score more goals. Of course it was possible [to score more]. “When you see both matches, we deserve to be in the semi-final. But we have to accept it. The mentality, the attitude the players show on the pitch, I am proud about that.”
