Alleged refereeing favors for Inter, dossier pops up for discussion
Barcelona is furious about some refereeing decisions that accrued in the Camp Nou defeat against Atlético Madrid. More than Cubarsi’s expulsion, what is most controversial is the non-intervention of the VAR on the episode of Pubill’s hand touch, which stemmed from an error in Musso’s sending off from the back, on which referee István Kovács was not called back for review.
According to reports from AS, the Blaugrana club expected both the granting of the penalty kick and the second caution for the Colchoneros defender, which would have restored numerical parity. Precisely for this reason, the management is reportedly considering filing a formal appeal with UEFA against the actions of the Romanian match director, assisted at VAR by German Bastian Dankert.
Barça’s discontent, however, is rooted in a series of episodes deemed unfavorable in recent years. Also according to the Spanish newspaper, since Joan Laporta returned to the presidency and openly challenged the UEFA system (including through the Superleague project), refereeing decisions against the Catalans have allegedly multiplied.
A precedent linked to Kovács himself also appears in the club’s dossier: the ejection of Ronald Araújo in the 2024 quarterfinals against Paris Saint-Germain. There is also no shortage of references to intersections with Inter, starting with the 2022/23 season: from Denzel Dumfries’ touch of his hand on a shot by Ansu Fati at the San Siro, to the goal annulled to Pedri for another similar incident. On that occasion, Slovenian Slavko Vinčić was refereeing.
From Xavi Hernandez’s anger came the anger of Hansi Flick, who was sent off in Milan last season by Szymon Marciniak in a match marked by numerous controversial episodes. These included, in the nail-biting 4-3 draw against Inter, the penalty awarded for Cubarsi’s foul on Lautaro Martínez, a possible penalty not reviewed for contact between Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Lamine Yamal, as well as Francesco Acerbi’s thrusts on Pedri.
The most discussed episode, however, remains the contact between Dumfries and Gerard Martín before the cross that led to Acerbi’s equalizing goal, a goal that dragged the challenge into extra time and continues to fuel the Catalan club’s discontent.
