After being denied a penalty during their 2-0 Champions League loss to Atletico Madrid on Wednesday, Barcelona said they have complained to UEFA. The decision to not punish Atletico defender Marc Pubill for touching the ball during the visitors’ goal kick in the second half infuriated Barcelona.
The Spanish champions said the club had asked UEFA to look into the event, calling the judgement and the absence of VAR assistance a “significant error”. According to a club statement, “the club considers that the referee’s conduct violated current regulations, directly affecting the course of the match and its result.”
“FC Barcelona believes that this ruling and the VAR’s inaction amount to a serious mistake. As a result, the club has asked for the start of an inquiry, access to the referees’ correspondence, and, when necessary, formal recognition of the mistakes and the implementation of the necessary corrective actions.
“In this regard, FC Barcelona believes that this is not the first time in recent UEFA Champions League editions that the team has been severely disadvantaged by inexplicable refereeing decisions, creating a clear competitive imbalance and preventing it from competing on equal terms with other clubs.”
Barcelona also complaint about Atleti’s non-red card
Barcelona has now officially complained to UEFA, according to MD. They argue that Pubill’s handball was an “obvious infraction” that should have been noted by the referee or VAR since it is not up to interpretation.
As part of their case, Barcelona cited precedent, pointing out that a similar situation occurred in the Champions League encounter between Club Brugge and Aston Villa last season, but the conclusion was different. The Belgians were given a spot kick when Tyrone Mings was punished for performing the identical goal-kick procedure as Pubill.
Barcelona is aware that their protest won’t alter the outcome; all they want is for UEFA to acknowledge the alleged error and grant them access to the discussions that went place between Kovacs and the VAR staff at the Spotify Camp Nou. They also emphasised in their letter that Atleti captain Koke Resurreccion was not sent off for two bookable offences.
Apart from making a return at the Riyadh Air Metropolitano next week, Flick and his team have no other options. It remains to be seen if Barcelona’s protest will result in anything.
