Refereeing v Atletico ‘a robbery’ – Barca’s Raphinha
Barcelona forward Raphinha has branded the refereeing in their Champions League quarter-final defeat to Atletico Madrid “a robbery.” Barca exited 3–2 on aggregate despite a 2–1 win in Tuesday’s second leg, having lost the first leg 2–0 at home. In both matches a Barcelona defender was sent off after a yellow card was upgraded to red when the referee, on VAR advice, reviewed a potential denial of a goalscoring opportunity on the pitchside monitor. Pau Cubarsi was dismissed by Istvan Kovacs in the first leg, while fellow defender Eric Garcia was sent off by French referee Clement Turpin in the second. Kovacs and video assistant referee Christian Dingert were also criticised by Barcelona after they allowed play to continue when Atletico defender Marc Pubill handled the ball in his own penalty area from what appeared to be a goal-kick situation. […]
