MADRID (AP) 鈥� Barcelona forward Raphinha criticized the refereeing after against Atletico Madrid in the quarterfinals of the Champions League on Tuesday.
Raphinha, who didn’t play because of a , also gestured toward Atletico fans after the game, apparently indicating that the team will be eliminated in the next round. He also made a 鈥渞obbed鈥� sign with his hands toward the crowd at the Metropolitano stadium.
Barcelona won 2-1 on Tuesday but it wasn’t enough to overcome a last week.
鈥淭o me, it was robbed,鈥� he told reporters. 鈥淣ot only this match, but the other one as well. The refereeing was very bad. Incredible the decisions that they made. Atletico made a lot of fouls and the referee didn’t show a single yellow card.鈥�
Barcelona had Pau Cubars铆 sent off in the first half of the opening game, and Eric Garc铆a was shown a red card on Tuesday in the 79th minute.
Barcelona also complained of other refereeing decisions during both matches. It made a complaint to UEFA about a possible penalty in its favor in the first leg, and players complained of another penalty on Tuesday.
鈥淚 wish I could understand the fear that they have to see Barcelona winning,鈥� Raphinha said.
Barcelona coach Hansi Flick complained after the first game but said after the return leg that he wouldn’t talk about the referees. He said his team deserved better luck after how it played.
鈥淲hen you see both matches … we were much better than Atletico,鈥� Flick said. 鈥淏ut at the end it’s like that, and we have to accept it.鈥�
Barcelona’s next match is against Celta Vigo in the Spanish league. The Catalan club leads the league by nine points over second-place Real Madrid after 31 rounds.
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