Barcelona have carried their fury beyond the dugout and into UEFA’s inbox, lodging a formal complaint over the officiating in their 2-0 home defeat by Atletico Madrid in the Champions League quarter-final first leg.
The row centres on an incident early in the second half when Barca appealed for a penalty after Atletico goalkeeper Juan Musso appeared to have put the ball back into play from a goal kick before defender Marc Pubill handled it inside the six-yard box to retake it.
Referee Istvan Kovacs waved play on and the VAR team did not summon him to the monitor, drawing furious reactions from the Barcelona bench. “Barcelona inform that the club legal services have submitted a complaint to UEFA today regarding the events in the Champions League quarter-final first leg against Atletico Madrid,” the club said in an official statement.
“The complaint centres around a specific action. In the 54th minute of the match, after play had been restarted correctly, an opponent player picked up the ball in their area without being shown the corresponding penalty,” it added.
“Barcelona understand that this decision, along with a grave lack of intervention by VAR, represents a major error. Accordingly, the club has requested an investigation be opened, access to refereeing communications, and where applicable, official acknowledgment of the errors and the adoption of the relevant measures.”
Interpretations of similar incidents have varied. In the Champions League quarter-finals in April 2024, the referee did not award a penalty to Bayern Munich after Arsenal defender Gabriel Magalhaes touched the ball following what appeared to be a restart from goalkeeper David Raya. Later in 2024, VAR intervened to award Club Brugge a penalty in a comparable exchange involving Aston Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez and defender Tyrone Mings.
After the game, Barcelona manager Hansi Flick tore into the officiating, raging over a second-half penalty call and Pau Cubarsi’s red card that left his team a man down before halftime. “I don’t know why VAR hasn’t been used. The referee ... I think he’s brilliant. We all make mistakes, but what’s the point of VAR? I just can’t understand it. It should have been a penalty, a second yellow and a red card as he already had a booking. This is exactly what shouldn’t happen,” Flick said.
Atletico manager Diego Simeone saw it differently. “It’s a matter of common sense,” Simeone told reporters. “The referee saw it as it was. That Marc (Pubill) received what appeared to be a pass from his teammate to start the move, the referee saw it the same way as Marc saw it. Then we can look at as many situations as we like.”
Barcelona had already been reduced to 10 men in the 44th minute when Cubarsi was sent off for hauling down Giuliano Simeone as the last man. Julian Alvarez brilliantly curled in the resulting free kick before the interval and Alexander Sorloth sealed the win after the break. Flick also questioned the dismissal. “I’m not sure if he made enough contact because the ball was behind him; I’m not entirely sure,” he said. “I don’t know. It might be, or it might not be. I don’t know if he touched him enough. But in other situations, when the ball is touched by the hand, it’s very clear to me.”
