Raphinha brands Barcelona’s Champions League quarter-final exit against Atletico Madrid a “robbery.” The forward slams refereeing in both legs of their 3-2 aggregate defeat.
Barcelona lost Pau Cubarsi and Eric Garcia to red cards—one per leg—after yellows upgraded via pitchside VAR reviews for denying goalscoring chances. Their 2-1 second-leg win couldn’t erase Atletico’s 2-0 first-leg lead.
Referee Istvan Kovacs drew fire for ignoring Marc Pubill’s handball in Atletico’s box during the first leg, despite VAR Christian Dingert’s input. Uefa dismissed Barcelona’s protest as “inadmissible.”
Injured Raphinha watched both ties. “Refereeing stinks—unbelievable calls,” he told reporters. “Atletico racked up fouls without yellows. Why fear Barcelona winning?”
Atletico escaped bookings in leg two; Barcelona took one yellow plus a red. Pubill earned three yellows across ties. Raphinha demands scrutiny: “Repeated errors demand attention.”
Atletico’s Juan Musso fires back: “Ridiculous theft claim. We won fair on pitch.” Uefa eyes disciplinary action against Raphinha.
