FC Barcelona’s offensive player Raphinha has vehemently complained about the refereeing after their Champions League quarter-final elimination against Atletico Madrid.
«They stole the game from us,» Raphinha, who missed both the first and second leg due to a thigh injury, fumed, according to Fabrizio Romano, after the second leg on Tuesday evening.
The officials were «very bad,» Raphinha continued. «Unbelievable the decisions they made. I don’t know how many fouls Atletico committed today – and the referee doesn’t show them a single yellow card…»
Apart from the lack of a caution for Atleti, which could have been debated here and there, referee Clement Turpin performed adequately in the hosts’ advancement in the heated Metropolitano. He correctly disallowed what would have been a 3-1 lead for Barcelona by Ferran Torres, which would have sent the Catalans into extra time after 90 minutes, following a VAR intervention for offside.
In the 80th minute, the sending-off of Barca’s Eric Garcia further inflamed tempers. The defender brought down Atletico striker Alexander Sörloth, who had just been substituted on, to prevent him from running towards the goal. The action was tricky to interpret as a denial of a goal-scoring opportunity, as another Barcelona defender, Jules Koundé, might have still been able to intervene and prevent a clear chance for Sörloth. Turpin initially intended to give Garcia only a yellow card – but after VAR intervention, he reviewed the scene again on the monitor and, albeit controversially but ultimately defensibly, sent Garcia off prematurely with a red card.
Barcelona Denied a Penalty in the First Leg Against Atletico Madrid
In his tirade, Raphinha also had the first leg in mind. «It’s okay to make a mistake in one game – but two in a row?! I can’t understand that. I’d really like to understand why the referees are so afraid of Barcelona winning,» hissed the Brazilian, who had to watch both matches helplessly.
In the 0-2 home defeat in the first leg last week, Barca was denied a potential penalty. In the 54th minute, Atletico’s goalkeeper Juan Musso had seemingly already taken a goal kick and passed the ball to defender Marc Pubill near the edge of the six-yard box. Pubill then stopped the ball with his hand, placed it on the six-yard line, and took another goal kick.
Barca naturally demanded a handball and a penalty, but referee Istvan Kovacs let the game continue without a whistle. Possibly because the ball had not left the six-yard box during Musso’s pass and was therefore not yet considered a completed goal kick by the officials.
«The goalkeeper passes the ball to him and he touches it with his hand. Come on, that’s crystal clear. I have no idea why VAR didn’t intervene. I don’t understand it,» fumed Barcelona coach Hansi Flick afterwards on DAZN.
Barca Star Raphinha Clashes with Atletico Fans
Furthermore, the red card for Pau Cubarsi – also for denying a goal-scoring opportunity – shortly before halftime had caused anger at Barca. The Blaugrana traveled to Madrid accordingly furious to start a comeback there.
And they initially succeeded, with Barca leading 2-0 after early goals from Lamine Yamal (4th minute) and Ferran Torres (24th), and had quickly equalized the first-leg deficit in less than half an hour. However, in the 31st minute, Ademola Lookman scored the goal for the final 1-2 score, which ultimately was enough for Atletico to advance to the semi-finals of the Champions League.
«Considering both games overall, we were clearly better than Atletico,» Flick grumbled afterwards about Barcelona’s elimination. «In the end, that’s how it is, and we have to accept it.»
Meanwhile, after the final whistle, Raphinha clashed with the celebrating Atletico fans by gesturing to them that they would be eliminated in the semi-finals anyway. The Colchoneros will likely face FC Arsenal in the next round, who went into their quarter-final against Sporting Lisbon as clear favorites and won the first leg in Portugal 1-0. On Wednesday evening, the Gunners aim to seal the deal in the second leg in front of their home crowd.
Juan Musso Responds to Raphinha: ‘He Acts Like They Should Have Gotten Three Penalties’
Atletico goalkeeper Musso, for his part, responded to Raphinha’s explosive statements. «You simply can’t say that this game was stolen from them. It’s crazy to portray it that way,» emphasized the 31-year-old Argentinian.
Musso elaborated: «He acts like they should have gotten three penalties and we should have gotten four red cards. We won the game on the pitch and beat them 2-0 away. And as the last man, you get a red card in football,» he added a jab towards Barca’s protests against their two sending-offs.
Champions League Semi-Final Overview
| Date | Match |
|---|---|
| Tuesday, April 28 | Paris Saint-Germain vs. FC Bayern or Real Madrid |
| Wednesday, April 29 | Atletico Madrid vs. FC Arsenal or Sporting |
| Tuesday, May 5 | FC Arsenal or Sporting vs. Atletico Madrid |
| Wednesday, May 6 | FC Bayern or Real Madrid vs. Paris Saint-Germain |