Koke and his blast at the ref in Barcelona – Atlético, Champions | OneFootball

Atlético de Madrid have learned the appointment of the referee for the Champions League clash against Barcelona, which does not bring back very good memories for Koke. Romanian referee Kovacs will officiate the first leg of the quarter-finals, with the outcome still to be decided. What is clear are the last four matches with him in charge, of which Atlético have drawn only one and lost the other three. The most recent was the 1-1 draw against Galatasaray.

The previous match Atlético played with the referee who will officiate the clash against Barcelona was at the Club World Cup, with Koke blasting the officiating after the game. It was against PSG, in a match that ended 4-0 in favor of the French side. A game marked by Kovacs' refereeing decisions, as he sent off Lenglet in what was an extremely harsh call. But that was not all. He disallowed the 2-1 over a very soft foul and did not send off Nuno Mendes when he brought down Giuliano, who was through on goal.

All of it in a match that ended with 7 yellow cards for 7 fouls by Atlético. All in a refereeing display that ended with Simeone ironically applauding Kovacs and with Koke delivering a furious rant, admitting they deserved to lose but unable to explain the officiating. Speaking after that match, the captain said about the disallowed goal: “We made it 2-1 and he gave a foul that, if he wants to give it, he gives it, and if he doesn’t want to give it, he doesn’t give it.” And he concluded: “We all saw what happened on the pitch, which way the small details were going.”

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.