Barcelona have filed a formal complaint with UEFA following their 2-0 Champions League quarter-final first-leg defeat to Atletico Madrid at Camp Nou on Wednesday. The club's legal department submitted the complaint on Thursday, describing what they call incomprehensible refereeing and demanding access to referee communications.
The incident at the heart of the complaint occurred in the 54th minute. Atletico goalkeeper Juan Musso played a short goal-kick to Marc Pubill, who stopped the ball with his hand before passing it back. The ball was in play. Pubill was already on a booking. Referee Istvan Kovacs waved away Barcelona's furious protests and VAR did not intervene.
Hansi Flick did not hold back after the final whistle. "It should be a penalty and a second yellow for the player," he told reporters. "What is the point of having VAR?" In a separate Movistar interview, he added: "I don't know why VAR didn't intervene. It's unbelievable."
In an identical situation in the 2024-25 Champions League, Aston Villa defender Tyrone Mings was sent off and a penalty was awarded against Club Brugge after handling following a short goal-kick by Emiliano Martinez. Barcelona cited that precedent in their complaint. UEFA are expected to acknowledge the filing but formal reversals of match results are not within the scope of such complaints.
The result stands. Atletico lead 2-0 on aggregate heading into the second leg at the Riyadh Air Metropolitano on Tuesday, April 14. Barcelona need to score twice without reply to force extra time.
