Barcelona's Pedri Calls On UEFA To Look Into VAR Performance After Defeat (image-instagram/pedri)
After Barcelona’s crushing defeat last night at the San Siro Stadium in Milan, Pedri has called on UEFA to “look into” referee Szymon Marciniak’s performance during the semi-final clash. The Catalan side was visibly frustrated throughout the match by several controversial decisions that went against them in the 4-3 loss, which resulted in their Champions League exit.
There were multiple instances of controversial moments in the match, with VAR intervening. Pau Cubarsí’s tackle on Lautaro Martínez in the first half led to Inter receiving a penalty, from which Hakan Çalhanoğlu doubled his team’s lead, while in the second half, a penalty claim was overturned by VAR after Lamine Yamal was brought down.
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While speaking to the media after the match, Pedri pointed out that this wasn’t the first time the refereeing issue had happened. “I think UEFA should look into it. There are things that are hard to explain. There were many situations: every 50/50 went their way, and on the penalty on Lamine, which was later called a foul—he didn’t give [Henrikh] Mkhitaryan a yellow card, which would’ve been his second,” he said.
Barcelona boss Hansi Flick too had come forward backing Pedri’s claim and added that some of the decisions taken during the match were in favour of Inter. “I’m proud of my team, we gave everything, and sometimes you feel like it’s unfair because some decisions the referee made were not for our side, but it’s like that. We have to accept it, and we’ll start again next season. Winning the Champions League is one of our goals, because the fans deserve it. We’ll be back next season in the Champions League,” he added.
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However, the team doesn’t have much time to remain embroiled in the issue, as they have yet another crucial match against Real Madrid next Sunday. The Catalans will now aim to seal the La Liga title in the next couple of weeks to complete a domestic double.
