Barcelona has officially submitted a written complaint to UEFA, expressing "deep concern and dissatisfaction" with the referee decisions in the two-legged UEFA Champions League quarter-final against Atletico Madrid. The letter, signed by the club's interim president Rafael Yuste, states that the team was "seriously harmed by unjust and incomprehensible decisions" that directly affected the match results.
In the letter, Barcelona acknowledges that mistakes can happen but argues that the accumulation of these errors "had a clear impact on the outcome of the two-legged tie, ultimately leading to the team's elimination." The club emphasizes that this not only affected their chance to continue participating in the "most important target competition of the season" but also resulted in losses of direct and indirect tournament revenue.
Previously, Barcelona had appealed to UEFA's Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body regarding an unawarded penalty in the first leg at Camp Nou, where Marc Pubill handled the ball in the penalty area after Gerónimo Rulli's goal kick, but the appeal was deemed "inadmissible." Barcelona is not requesting a replay or result change this time, but hopes to obtain an explanation for the incorrect decisions, while listing specific problematic calls identified in the disputed knockout tie.
First Leg Controversies
Minute 9: Koke clearly fouled to stop Barcelona's counterattack, arriving late and having no chance of challenging for the ball against Dani Olmo, but the referee did not show him a yellow card.
Minute 39: Koke, already on a yellow card, kicked Lamine Yamal from behind, hitting his tibia with no chance of winning the ball, yet the referee still did not show a second yellow card.
Minute 44: Pau Cubarsí and Giuliano Simeone were both running and neither had control of the ball when challenging. The Atletico player swung his leg back and made contact with the defender. The referee initially showed Cubarsí a yellow card, then VAR intervened and upgraded the decision to a red card.
Minute 54: Pubill handled the ball with his right hand in the penalty area, no penalty was awarded, and VAR did not review the incident. Barcelona considers this a clear mistake.
Second Leg Controversies
Minute 40: Marcos Llorente pushed Olmo from behind in the penalty area when the attacking player had already gained possession, was preparing to shoot, and had no defenders in front of him, but the referee did not award a penalty. Despite this being an obvious error, VAR also did not intervene.
Minute 54: Gavi took a shot that was blocked by Samuel Länglet, with the ball hitting the defender's right hand, yet the referee still did not award a penalty. Despite this being an obvious mistake, VAR still did not conduct a review.
Minute 76: Eric García gave a slight push to Alexander Sörloth, causing him to fall. The referee initially awarded a foul and was preparing to show a yellow card, then VAR intervened and upgraded it to a red card on the grounds that it might have denied a goalscoring opportunity. Barcelona argues this should not have happened as there was no clear and obvious error, with Jules Koundé present and the distance between the attacking player and the goal not meeting the conditions for a direct red card.
In the statement, the club concludes that they "did not identify any decision that could be interpreted as favorable to Barcelona, which is at least notable and surprising." For these reasons, the club was "forced to express this complaint." Barcelona also stated its willingness to cooperate with UEFA to make rule enforcement more precise and promote greater transparency in the referee decision-making process.
