Barcelona manager Hansi Flick criticised the referee after his side were knocked out of the Champions League in a thrilling semi-final with Inter Milan.
Having been 2-0 down at half-time, Barca produced a brilliant three-goal second-half comeback to stun the San Siro and stand on the brink of the final, leading 6-5 on aggregate.
But Francesco Acerbi steered home a late equaliser for Inter to force extra time, and substitute Davide Frattesi added another to clinch a dramatic 7-6 win for the Italian club, who will face to Paris St Germain or Arsenal in the final.
Acerbi’s goal was controversial, as Barcelona left-back Gerard Martin claimed to have been fouled as he lost the ball in the build-up, and Flick criticised Polish referee Szymon Marciniak who had a busy night.
He awarded Inter a penalty after a VAR review for a challenge by Pau Cubarsi on Lautaro Martinez that he did not deem an infringement and later reversed a decision he had signaled as a spot kick for Barcelona, with VAR saying Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s foul on Lamine Yamal was just outside the box.
Barca’s players and bench also complained about what they thought was handball inside the box by Inter defender Acerbi and a foul by fullback Denzel Dumfries on Gerard Martin in the build-up to the equaliser which took the game to extra time.
“I don’t want to talk too much about the referee, but every decision that was 50-50 went (Inter’s) way,” German Flick told a press conference.
“I am disappointed, but not with my team. They tried everything. It’s the way it is. We are out, but next year we will try again to make the fans happy.
“It makes me sad … My team did an excellent job. I don’t like talking about the referee … I’ve told him what I think, but I’m not going to say it here what I’ve said…”
Barca were chasing a treble after winning the Copa del Rey, but will now turn their focus to LaLiga, where they top the table and on Sunday host rivals Real Madrid, who trail them by four points with four games to go.
The five-times winners were hoping to reach their first Champions League final in a decade, but were left licking their wounds ahead of Sunday’s ‘El Clasico’.
Unbeaten domestically since late December, Barcelona will try to grab a fourth consecutive victory over Real this season.
“We’ll learn from this. It’s a progression. We want to keep learning. We don’t have much time to train now, but next weekend we are back. It’s normal to be disappointed,” Flick said.
“The team deserves the respect they have earned. We play to win, we want to win titles and we have LaLiga, with a very difficult match. We have a few days to prepare for this match.
“Each player, when they get home, can look in the mirror and be proud of themselves. We’ll analyse the game calmly and see what we can do.”
