•Raphinha
Barcelona forward Raphinha has claimed his side were “robbed” during their Champions League quarter-final defeat by Atletico Madrid yesterday.
The Catalans had a player sent off in each leg of their 3-2 aggregate defeat by Spanish rivals Atletico Madrid, with their 2-1 win yesterday not enough to overturn a 2-0 deficit from the first leg, reports AFP.
“For me, we were robbed,” Raphinha, who missed each game through injury, told reporters after the game.
“The refereeing was really bad, the decisions made were unbelievable.
“I don’t know how many fouls Atletico made, but the referee didn’t give them a single yellow card.
“I really want to understand why they’re so afraid that Barcelona will come and win.”
Hansi Flick’s side were 2-0 down on aggregate in the last eight of the Champions League, but they hauled themselves back level in the tie after Lamine Yamal and Ferran Torres’ goals.
Ademola Lookman restored Atletico’s aggregate advantage as he finished off a sweeping counter in the first half.
Barca were reduced to ten men in the second period as Eric Garcia was adjudged by VAR to have felled substitute Alexander Sorloth as he peeled away, through on goal.
Raphinha, who is currently sidelined with a hamstring injury he picked up on international duty with Brazil, travelled with his team-mates to the Spanish capital but could not contain his fury at the result afterwards.
He added: “It was tough, especially when you realise you have to work three times as hard to win the match.”
“I think this tie was quite misleading, in my view. I think everyone can make mistakes; everyone is human.
“But when the mistakes keep repeating themselves in the same way, I think that’s something we need to pay attention to.”
Raphinha also taunted Atletico supporters post-match, gesturing that Diego Simeone’s side would fall at the semi-final stage.
When asked to respond to his comments, UEFA said that its disciplinary body will assess reports from Tuesday’s game before deciding on any next steps, including a possible charge for the former Leeds player.
Atletico keeper Musso also said: “You can’t say this match was stolen from them; that’s ridiculous.
“They acted as if they should have had three penalties and we should have had four sendings-off. We won on the pitch, 2–0 away, and when you’re the last man back, you get a red card.”
