Barcelona star Raphinha did not take his side’s exit from the Champions League lying down. Atletico Madrid ran out 3-2 winners on aggregate against the Catalan giants, after a 2-1 loss at the Metropolitano that was sufficient to take them through to the semi-finals.
Raphinha, who did not feature in the tie due to injury, had traveled to Madrid to support his teammates. He made headlines after the match after complaints about the refereeing as quoted by MD.
“It’s a stolen match. It was tough, especially when you see that you have to make three triple the effort to win the game. Making a mistake is human, but for it to happen again in the second leg? We’ve played very well, but this tie has been stolen from us.”
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The Blaugrana felt on numerous occasions that they were not given the fouls merited, and that their opponents were not punished when they were. Raphinha pointed to the fact that Atletico did not pick up a booking in the second leg, calling it ‘fear’ from the officials.
“The refereeing has been terrible; it’s unbelievable the decisions he’s made. Atletico committed countless fouls, and the referee didn’t even show them a yellow card. I really want to understand his fear that Barca might get through to the next round.”
Raphinha was not alone in his complaints, with Frenkie de Jong commenting after the match that it was in the first leg the officiating was key.
“Luck has not been on our side. We tried everything, we played well in both matches. In the end it wasn’t enough, we want to improve, but we feel like luck wasn’t on our side,” Cadena SER quote.
“In the first leg, the refereeing was decisive. The play that marked the match in the first leg was when Pubill stopped that action with his hand, which should have been a red card and a penalty. In the first match, the refereeing was decisive.”
De Jong went on to comment on the excellent job that Barcelona’s young players did, and there were reasons for optimism going forward. On the other hand, Raphinha is at risk of a UEFA sanction for his comments.
