Barcelona failed to overturn a two-goal deficit against Atlético Madrid in the Champions League quarter-final tie’s second leg at the Metropolitano on Tuesday (April 14) and Raphinha may be set to face punishment for his post-match actions.
Lamine Yamal netted after four minutes to restore hope for Barcelona before Ferran Torres put the La Liga leaders 2-0 up on the night and levelled the aggregate score at 2-2.
However, Diego Simeone’s side fought back, with Ademola Lookman scoring seven minutes later to send the Madrid club through to the semi-finals, where they will face the winners of tonight’s quarter-final second leg between Arsenal and Sporting CP.
Ten minutes into the second half, Torres had the ball in the net with a cushioned volley, only for the strike to be ruled out for offside after a VAR check.
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Then, 11 minutes from time, Eric García was sent off by referee Clément Turpin when he denied Alexander Sørloth as he ran towards Joan García’s goal.
Despite not playing due to injury, Barça forward Raphinha slammed the referee’s performance, with many suggesting the away side should have been awarded a penalty when Koke brought Dani Olmo down in the penalty area.
After the match, the Brazil international gestured towards the home fans and appeared to suggest that they would go out in the semi-finals.
Then, when speaking to reporters, he raged: “The game was completely robbed. The referee had a lot of problems. Some of the decisions he took were incredible. I don't know how many fouls Atlético made, and he didn't book them.
“It’s human to commit one error, but for it to happen again in another game? We played really well, but this tie was robbed from us. It was tough, especially when we see that we needed to put in three times the effort to win the match. I really want to understand why [the referee] is so scared of Barça getting through the tie.”
Raphinha may have landed himself in hot water with UEFA, with the body already setting a precedent when Neymar was initially banned for three matches after calling match officials “a disgrace” after Man Utd knocked PSG out of the Champions League in 2019.
The case was referred to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), which resulted in the ban being reduced to two games.
Article 11 of UEFA’s disciplinary guidance states that “insulting behaviour or behaviour that otherwise infringes the basic standards of decent conduct”, or behaviour that “brings the sport of football, and UEFA in particular, into disrepute”, may result in a sanction.
Barcelona return to La Liga action at home against Celta Vigo on April 22.
Topics: Barcelona, Champions League
Luke Davies