FC Barcelona painfully got eliminated from the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals, but, tensions erupted with forward Raphinha launching a scathing attack on match officials, branding the tie a “robbery.”
Despite a 2-1 victory in the second leg, Barcelona crashed out 3-2 on aggregate to Atlético Madrid, having fallen 2-0 behind in the first leg.
But for the Catalan giants, the story was not just about the scoreline, it was about controversial refereeing decisions that dominated both encounters.
Why Barcelona Received Two Red Cards In Both Legs
Barcelona were reduced to 10 men in each leg of the tie, with both dismissals coming after VAR interventions.
In the first leg, defender Pau Cubarsí was sent off by referee István Kovács after a yellow card was upgraded to red for denying a goalscoring opportunity.
The drama repeated itself in the return leg when Eric García was dismissed by Clément Turpin under similar circumstances.
The decisions left Barcelona furious, feeling they had been unfairly punished at crucial moments across the two matches.
Atletico’s Handball Adds Fuel to Fire
Barcelona’s anger deepened in the first leg when referee Kovács, alongside VAR official Christian Dingert, opted not to award a penalty after Marc Pubill appeared to handle the ball inside the box.
Barcelona lodged an official complaint to UEFA over what they described as a “grave lack of VAR intervention.”
However, UEFA dismissed the protest, ruling it “inadmissible.”
Raphinha’s Explosive Reaction
Although he missed both legs through injury, Raphinha did not hold back in his post-match reaction:
“For me, this match was a robbery. Not just this match but the other one as well.”
“The refereeing was really bad, the decisions [Turpin] makes are unbelievable.”
“I don’t know how many fouls Atletico made but the referee didn’t give them a single yellow card.”
“I really want to understand why they’re so afraid that Barcelona will come and win.”
The Brazilian winger also pointed to a pattern of questionable decisions:
“It was tough, especially when you realise you have to work three times as hard to win the match.”
“I think this tie was quite misleading, in my view. I think everyone can make mistakes; everyone is human.”
“But when the mistakes keep repeating themselves in exactly the same way, I think that’s something we need to pay attention to.”
Atlético Hit Back: “That’s Ridiculous”
Atlético Madrid were quick to reject the accusations, with goalkeeper Juan Musso dismissing Barcelona’s complaints.
“You can’t say this match was stolen from them; that’s ridiculous.”
“They acted as if they should have had three penalties and we should have had four sendings-off.”
“We won on the pitch, 2–0 away, and when you’re the last man back, you get a red card.”
UEFA Could Take Action
Following Raphinha’s outburst, UEFA confirmed that its disciplinary body will review reports from the match before deciding whether to take further action, including a potential charge against the Barcelona forward.
For FC Barcelona, the exit is a painful end to their European campaign, one clouded by frustration howwever for Atlético, it is an achieved statement progression.
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