Barcelona forward Raphinha has launched an intense criticism of the officiating during their Champions League quarter-final clash, which saw his team eliminated on aggregate 3-2 by Atletico Madrid on Tuesday, with both matches finishing with 10 players.
The Brazilian, who missed both games due to injury, accused referees Clement Turpin, who officiated the second match, and Istvan Kovacs, who oversaw the first, of “robbing” his team of a fair result.
“For me, it was a robbery, not just in this game but in the first leg as well,” Raphinha stated to reporters after Barcelona’s 2-1 win on the night wasn’t sufficient to secure progression.
“I believe the refereeing has been incredibly poor; the decisions he (Turpin) makes are astonishing… I genuinely want to know why there’s such fear that Barcelona could come and win.”
Televised footage showed Raphinha making a grabbing gesture with his hands after the final whistle, a sign typically associated with “theft”.
“It was tough, especially when you realise you have to exert three times the effort just to win the match,” Raphinha remarked.
“I think this tie has been quite deceptive, in my opinion. Anyone can make mistakes; we’re all human. However, when the same errors keep recurring in identical ways, it’s certainly something that warrants attention.”
Reuters has reached out to UEFA for a response.
In the first leg last week, Kovacs issued a red card to Pau Cubarsi in the 42nd minute following a VAR review for bringing down Giuliano Simeone as he broke free on goal, escalating an initial yellow card decision.
Atletico capitalised on the resulting free kick, with Julian Alvarez curling the ball into the top right corner beyond Joan Garcia.
On Tuesday, Turpin took a similar path as Barcelona defender Garcia was sent off after a VAR review for pulling down Alexander Sorloth from behind while he was charging towards goal.
Barcelona had submitted a formal complaint regarding an incident early in the second half of the first leg, which was dismissed by UEFA.
They appealed for a penalty after Atletico goalkeeper Juan Musso seemingly re-entered play from a goal kick before Marc Pubill handled the ball inside the six-yard box to reclaim it.
Kovacs allowed play to continue, and VAR chose not to intervene, leading to furious reactions from the Barcelona bench.
Compiled by SportArena.au
Fanpage: SportArena.au.
LiveScore – Live Sports Results & Odds.
