The angry fall-out from Barcelona’s defeat to Atletico Madrid has continued this afternoon
Joan Laporta has described the officiating over the two legs of Barcelona’s Champions League defeat to Atletico Madrid as a “disgrace” and says the club are already planning another official complaint to UEFA.
The Catalans won 2-1 at the Metropolitano last night but that was not enough to overturn their 2-0 first leg setback last week. Barca were deeply unhappy at the officiating in the first game, lodging a formal protest with European football’s governing body, mainly due to a second-half incident that they felt should’ve resulted in the dismissal of Atleti defender Marc Pubill and a penalty given in their favour.
UEFA deemed the complaint ‘inadmissible’, cranking up the pressure ahead of the return which was not controversy free either.
Barcelona had Eric Garcia sent off with 11 minutes to go, hampering their chances of a staging a grandstand finish, while they also had a Ferran Torres goal ruled out and a penalty shout turned down.
The refs have hurt Barcelona a lot – Laporta
Laporta, who will reclaim the presidency on July 1 after victory in the recent election, was asked about the incidents today and was predictably annoyed.
He said: “First of all, I want to congratulate our opponents, but yesterday’s refereeing, both by the referee and VAR, was a disgrace.
“What they did to us is intolerable. In the first leg, they should have awarded us a clear penalty and [they then] sent off one of our players when it was a yellow card because Giuliano [Simeone] didn’t have the ball under control.
“The refereeing decisions have hurt us a lot [in the second leg]. Eric [Garcia] wasn’t the last man because [Jules] Koundé could have reached the ball. The referee showed the yellow card, which was the correct thing to do, and the VAR referee made him change his mind. Ferran’s goal was a goal. The foul on [Dani] Olmo was a penalty. The foul on Fermín [Lopez] was intolerable. Fermín’s face was cut open. Not even a card…”
Barcelona chief also slams UEFA
Laporta also took aim at UEFA for rejecting their initial complaint.
“We filed a complaint, and the response was that it wasn’t acceptable,” he raged. “What Barça is doing is asking for explanations as to why the complaint wasn’t acceptable. [Interim president Rafa] Yuste told me they will file another one. It’s a disgrace, intolerable.
”To say that referees favour Barça is shameless. They only have to look at this Champions League tie. It’s a disgrace.”
Laoprta is the latest Barcelona figure to criticise the refereeing of Frenchman Clement Turpin.
Barca winger Raphinha, who missed the game though injury, said the tie had been “stolen” from his side.
