Barcelona midfielder Pedri has urged UEFA to investigate the refereeing performance in Tuesday’s harrowing 4-3 Champions League semifinal defeat to Inter Milan at San Siro.
Raphinha’s 87th-minute winner looked to have set Barça on course for a first final since 2015, but a late equalizer from Francesco Acerbi and Davide Frattesi’s extra-time strike earned Inter a remarkable 4-3 win on the night, 7-6 on aggregate.
“It’s not the first time this happens to us with this referee, UEFA should look into it,” Pedri told reporters after the game.
“Every 50-50 for them … There are things that I don’t understand and which are hard to explain.”
Asked what was difficult to understand, he added: “In the penalty on Lamine [Yamal], which was after given as a free kick, there’s no booking for [Henrikh] Mkhitaryan, which would have been his second booking.”
Inter midfielder Mkhitaryan was cautioned for that challenge on Yamal, which was his first yellow card of the game.
Polish official Szymon Marciniak, who refereed the World Cup final in 2022, was in charge of the match. He was also the referee when Barça and Inter drew 3-3 in the group stage of the Champions League in 2022, a result which effectively eliminated Barça.
Meanwhile, the VAR officials for the match were the Dutch duo Pol Van Boekel and Dennis Higler, who were also on VAR duty when Barça last played at San Siro, also in 2022.
That match ended 1-0 in Inter’s favor, with Barça furious at the decision to rule out a Pedri goal for an Ansu Fati handball and not give a penalty when Denzel Dumfries handled.
Marciniak actually gave two of the major calls on Tuesday in Barça’s favor initially — not calling Pau Cubarsí’s challenge on Lautaro Martínez a penalty and giving Mkhitaryan’s foul on Yamal as a spot kick — only for VAR to intervene.
“I have come three times to Inter’s stadium and extraneous things always happen that don’t go our way,” defender Eric García told Movistar.
“We all know what happened with these [referees] the last time we came here. It’s not an excuse because we have conceded seven goals, but…”
It’s unclear which decisions Barça felt should have gone their way. At the time, they also appealed for a potential handball by Acerbi, claimed Gerard Martín was fouled in the build up to Inter’s late equalizer and complained the officials were too lenient with some of the treatment of Yamal.
“I think some decisions were 50-50, always for Inter, but it’s like that,” coach Hansi Flick said in a news conference.
“We have to accept it, it’s football. We can be proud about our performance. Sometimes it’s like that, you feel a little bit unfair.
“Some decisions the referee made was maybe not on our side, but we have to accept it. We start again next season to win the Champions League. This is one of our goals.
“Maybe I have [said] too much about the referees, so I also want to congratulate Inter, they did a great job in both games, and good luck in the final.”
Barça must quickly turn the page on the defeat. On Sunday, the LaLiga leaders host Real Madrid with the chance to open up a seven-point lead at the top of the table over their Clásico rivals with just three games to play.
Yamal promised supporters Barça won’t stop until they win the Champions League, but says all focus is now on Madrid’s visit on Sunday.
“We won’t stop until we put this club where it belongs: at the very top,” he posted on social media after the game.
“I will keep my promise and bring [the Champions League] to Barcelona. We will not stop until we achieve it. We gave our all this year, but it wasn’t to be. But we will be back — have no doubt about that.
“Now we have another final on Sunday and we need to all stick together.”
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