Despite a 2-1 away victory in the return leg, FC Barcelona has been eliminated from the Champions League quarter-finals by Atlético de Madrid. Trailing 2-0 from the first leg, the Catalans failed to overturn the deficit. Raphinha strongly criticized the refereeing.

They believed it was possible. Trailing 2-0 after the first match at Camp Nou, Barcelona delivered a fiery first half at the Metropolitano. As early as the 4th minute, Lamine Yamal capitalized on a mistake by Clément Lenglet, a former player for the home side, to open the scoring. Then, in the 24th minute, Ferran Torres doubled the lead with a curled shot, bringing the two teams level on aggregate (2-2). The comeback seemed well underway.

In the 80th minute, referee Clément Turpin, after consulting VAR, sent off Barça’s central defender Eric Garcia for bringing down Alexander Sorloth, who was through on goal. Reduced to ten men, Hansi Flick’s players tried everything in the final stages of the match. Ronald Araujo missed the equalizer in stoppage time, sending his header over the bar.

a refereeing performance denounced by the catalans

After the match, the German coach did not hide his bitterness. “If you look again at the two matches, we deserve to reach the semi-finals,” said Hansi Flick. “It was our dream to win the Champions League, we are all very sad,” he added. The coach felt that his players had done what was necessary to qualify.

Raphinha was much more scathing. The Brazilian winger did not mince his words. “For me, it was a robbery,” he said. “What I really want to understand is the criteria of the referees towards Barça,” continued the Brazilian. “I understand making a mistake in a match, but in two consecutive matches? It’s impossible to understand,” he concluded, visibly angry with the officiating.

For Barça, this elimination extends a dark streak in European competition. It is the eleventh consecutive year without lifting the trophy for the Blaugrana. For its part, Atlético reaches the last four for the first time since 2017. Diego Simeone will be able to count on the effectiveness of his team to dream of a final in Budapest.

By Mariama Hamani — Analyst