At the San Siro in Milan, Barcelona lost a heartbreaker by a score of 1-0, dropping them further down in Group C. For Inter,a goal from Hakan Calhanoglu just before halftime was all they needed to take home a crucial victory and improve to two wins in the UEFA Champions League.
Although they pressed for an equalizer late in the game, they had two goals disallowed, one for handball and another that seemed like a penalty when Denzel Dumfries appeared to touch the ball inside the Nerazzurri area, both calls that were dramatically overturned by the referee.
Having just three points after three games, the Catalans’ loss away in Italymight be pivotal. It means they need to win the rest of their games, including the one against Bayern at Camp Noulater in the season.
How Barcelona will react after bad refereeing against Inter
The Blaugranacoach Xavi Hernandez expressed his displeasure with the refereeingafter the game: “I am furious and outraged by the situation we had to experience. There is no word for this other than outrage. It is an injustice. I already said yesterday that referees need to explain their decisions. We don’t understand what was happening.
“The referees need to speak, it will help to humanize them as well as clarify things.As far as I am concerned, the handball is very clear. The referee’s decisions have therefore been decisive.We woke up too late. We had them pinned back at the end, but didn’t convert our chances. We knew that Calhanoglu’s shot from outside the box was one of their strengths, but we still have three finals left in this group.”
The Barcelona players were just as shocked and disappointed as everyone else by the turn of events.Meanwhile, Spanish newspaper AS claims that they will not only stop at condemning.
With the blessing of their president Joan Laporta, theclub will reportedlyfile a formal complaint against the national team with the UEFA, complete with supporting documentation in the form of photographs. Fans are outraged about what they see as a “blatant act of injustice” and have called for Van Boekel to be banned from ever officiating a Barcelona game again, either on the field or in the VAR room.
When the Catalans were down a man after a foul on Ousmane Dembele in their most recent UCL match, the Video Assistant Referee for the match ruled there was no penalty.Furthermore, the La Liga giantsconsiderthese coincidences to be too many to dismiss, therefore the club plans to file an official protest with UEFA about how the situation has put them in danger of being booted out of the Champions League.