Barcelona president confirms club will report refereeing vs Atletico to UEFA – ‘Happened too many times’ | OneFootball

Barcelona were beaten 0-2 by Atletico Madrid last night in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals in a match surrounded by refereeing controversy.

The sending-off of Pau Cubarsi, which shaped the game, a clear handball by Marc Pubill and a penalty not awarded, and the decision not to send off Koke after two challenges worthy of a second yellow card, were the main incidents.

Barcelona were left far from pleased with referee Istvan Kovacs’ decisions and were said to be contemplating filing a formal complaint with UEFA over the questionable officiating.

Rafa Yuste confirms plans to lodge complaint

Now, Barcelona interim president Rafa Yuste has openly voiced the club’s dissatisfaction with the refereeing of Kovacs in the match against Atletico Madrid.

“With all the technical and electronic resources we have, including VAR, I don’t understand how such a clear penalty wasn’t given. Whether intentional or not, the incident is crystal clear,” he said, as quoted by SPORT.

“We have a very important second leg coming up and another match against Espanyol on Saturday; I don’t want anything to disrupt the team’s focus at this stage,” he added.

Istvan Kovacs made several controversial calls. (Photo by Eric Alonso/Getty Images)

The Barcelona president confirmed that the club is considering submitting a complaint to UEFA, as he said:

“The club are internally considering whether to lodge a complaint. We’re not just talking about three points; we’re talking about a major title like the Champions League. It happened to us recently in the Copa del Rey too.

“People have short memories, but we have to report it because if we don’t, things won’t improve. Everyone can make a mistake, but it’s happened far too many times now.”

Despite the frustration and the difficulty of overturning a 0-2 deficit at the Metropolitano next week, Yuste believes a comeback is possible.

“Of course, I believe we can turn this around. We’re a team that has to have that conviction. And I say that because our supporters do. We’re going to Madrid to overturn the result and reach the semi-finals,” he concluded.