Club president says Barcelona will make another formal complaint despite the one they made last week being dismissed
Barcelona president Joan Laporta has criticised refereeing decisions following the club’s Champions League quarterfinal exit to Atletico Madrid, describing the officiating as “disgraceful” and confirming the club will raise the matter with Uefa.
Barcelona won 2-1 in the second leg at the Metropolitano, but were eliminated 3-2 on aggregate after losing the first leg 2-0 at Camp Nou.
“First of all, congratulations to Atletico for reaching the semifinal, but that doesn’t take away from the refereeing, which was a disgrace,” Laporta said. “It’s unacceptable. Already in the first leg, we were not given a penalty [for a Marc Pubill handball] and [Pau Cubarsi] was sent off when it should only have been a yellow card because Giuliano [Simeone] did not have the ball under control.
“The referee made the right decision giving the yellow at first – but VAR demanded a red card which really damaged our chances. The refereeing decisions have had a major impact on the tie. In the second leg, it was more of the same.”
Barcelona had already filed a complaint after the first leg, arguing they should have been awarded a penalty for a handball by Pubill, but Uefa deemed the complaint “inadmissible”.
Incidents that caught Laporta’s attention in the second leg include Eric Garcia’s late red card, a disallowed goal for Ferran Torres, a penalty appeal involving Dani Olmo and a challenge by goalkeeper Juan Musso on Fermin Lopez that led to the midfielder bleeding.
“For Eric’s red card, Jules Kounde could easily have got to the ball, so Eric wasn’t the last man,” Laporta said. “The referee had the yellow card out and the VAR stepped in again.
“Ferran’s [offside] goal was a goal, there was a penalty on Dani Olmo and the aggression on Fermin is unacceptable. His lip was completely bust open. Not even a booking! It’s unacceptable.
“We filed a complaint after the first leg and Uefa said it was “inadmissible”. We will ask for further explanations. The club will also make another complaint because what’s inadmissible is what happened to us on Tuesday once again.”
