FC Barcelona president Joan Laporta has strongly criticized the refereeing and VAR decisions in Barcelona’s recent UEFA Champions League quarter-final tie against Atletico Madrid, calling them “unacceptable” and claiming they had a major impact on the outcome.
In a fiery press conference following the second leg, Laporta expressed deep frustration over a series of controversial calls that he believes disadvantaged Barça across both legs of the tie.
Laporta’s Key Complaints on Refereeing
Laporta highlighted multiple incidents:
- First leg issues: Barcelona were denied a clear penalty, and Pau Cubarsí received a red card for a foul that Laporta argued should have resulted in a red card for the opposing player instead.
- Second leg controversies:
- Eric García’s straight red card was “wrong.” Laporta insisted Koundé was positioned to win the ball cleanly, and García was not the last man.
- Ferran Torres’ second goal was incorrectly disallowed.
- A clear penalty on Dani Olmo was not awarded.
- Fermín López suffered a significant facial cut with no yellow card shown to the Atletico player.
“It’s unacceptable what they did to us. The referee and VAR decisions made a big impact on this UCL round,” Laporta stated.
He added: “In the first leg, we didn’t get a clear penalty and we got a red card when it had to be red on Pau Cubarsí’s foul. Then last night, the red card to Eric García was wrong. Koundé was there ready to win the ball. He wasn’t the last man. Also, it was a wrong decision to disallow Ferran’s second goal and there was a penalty on Dani Olmo. Fermín got a big cut on his face… and not even a yellow card.”
Laporta Rejects Bias Claims Against Barcelona
Laporta firmly rejected any notion that Barcelona receives favorable treatment from referees, calling such suggestions “shameless.”
“Whoever says that Barcelona receives treatment from the referees is shameless,” he declared, pushing back against long-standing narratives surrounding the club.
The comments come amid Barcelona’s elimination from the Champions League quarter-finals. The tie featured intense drama, including Eric García’s late red card in the second leg after a VAR review for a challenge on Alexander Sørloth, and a tightly called offside that disallowed a potential crucial goal from Ferran Torres.