Barcelona midfielder Pedri has urged UEFA to investigate the refereeing in the Champions League semi-final defeat against Inter Milan.
Raphinha seemed to have secured Barça’s qualification for the final with his goal in the 87th minute, but a late draw by Inter and a goal in extra time by Frattesi gave the victory to the Italian team with an aggregate score of 7-6.
This isn’t the first time this has happened to us with this referee, UEFA should investigate.
Pedri
The player added that there were difficult-to-understand decisions, such as the foul on Lamine Yamal, which was sanctioned as a free kick, without a caution for Mkhitaryan, which would have been his second yellow card.
The match referee was Szymon Marciniak, who also officiated the 2022 World Cup final. In addition, he was the referee in the 3-3 draw between Barça and Inter in the Champions League group stage in 2022, a result that eliminated Barça.
The VAR referees for the match were the Dutchmen Pol Van Boekel and Dennis Higler, who were also in VAR when Barça last played at San Siro, also in 2022.
In that match, Inter won 1-0, with Barça annoyed by the disallowed goal of Pedri for a handball by Ansu Fati and for not calling a penalty for a handball by Denzel Dumfries.
Defender Eric García commented that “strange things always happen” in Inter’s stadium that do not favor the team.
We know what happened with these referees the last time we came here. It’s not an excuse because we’ve conceded seven goals, but…
Eric García
Coach Hansi Flick mentioned that some refereeing decisions did not favor the team, but that they must accept it and that the goal is to win the Champions League next season.
Barcelona must quickly focus on the future. On Sunday, the LaLiga leader will face Real Madrid with the possibility of extending their lead to seven points over their rival.
Lamine Yamal promised the fans that Barça will not stop until they win the Champions League, but now the focus is on the match against Madrid.
Instagram post description: “We will not stop until we take this club to the top. I will keep my promise and bring [the Champions League] to Barcelona. We will not stop until we achieve it. We gave it our all this year, but it couldn’t be. But we will be back, don’t doubt it. Now we have another final on Sunday and we need to be united”.
