In the last couple of days, there has been a lot of anger from within Barcelona after Pau Cubarsi’s disallowed goal against Atletico Madrid in Thursday’s Copa del Rey semi-final first leg defeat. The defender scored to make it 4-1 a few minutes into the second half, but after an 8-minute long VAR check, it was ruled out.
Barcelona lodged an official complaint on the back of that decision, and on Sunday, Hansi Flick had his say on the matter. As per Diario AS, he revealed that he spoke to referee Juan Martinez Munuera in the aftermath of the Atleti match.
“Sometimes there are things we don’t like. I already spoke to the referee in Madrid in the dressing room because I wanted him to explain to me why he hadn’t allowed that goal. And the communication after the game was good. It wasn’t the referee’s fault that we lost. What we have to do is improve.
“I knocked on the door of the referees’ dressing room and we talked. And that has to be normal because on the pitch there is a lot of tension. We had a good conversation, and that conversation will remain private.”
Flick: Manager-referee relations can be normalised
Flick was asked about whether it could be that managers and referees are able to have normal relationships in football, on the back of his talks with Martinez Munuera.
“It could be, although normally you have to pay more attention and be more focused on your team. After the press conference, I had the feeling that I had to talk to the referees. So I went, they opened the door for me.”
Flick on level of Spanish refereeing
Flick also spoke on how he sees the current level of refereeing in Spanish football.
“I have said it before. I couldn’t change in those things. We are all human and we make mistakes, we have to learn. But I also want to see that from my team. And also of the referees. Making mistakes is human, but we have to improve in the right way. Everyone has to be neutral and I want to see that from the referees. But at the end of the day we are human and everyone makes mistakes.”
