FC Barcelona manager Hansi Flick fumed at Polish referee Szymon Marciniak after the team’s semi-final exit in the Champions League. Barcelona lost 3-4 to Inter Milan in the second leg of the competition in a memorable tie at the San Siro on Tuesday night, May 6.
In a high-intensity game, Barcelona fought back from 0-2 down, just like they did in the first leg of the competition, but were undone by a late Extra Time goal. Several 50-50 calls went against Barcelona on Tuesday, which had Flick fuming at the press conference after the match.
Inter Milan stopped the Catalans from reaching their first Champions League final in a decade after an extra-time goal by home substitute Davide Frattesi. Barca thought they had victory in the bag when they roared back from two goals down to grab a 3-2 lead with Raphinha’s goal in the 87th minute, but the hosts equalised through Francesco Acerbi’s well-directed flick-in, in added time to stay alive, and then scored the winning goal in extra time.
While Flick did not mention what the inflexion points were, during the match, the Barcelona coach was seen agitated with two decisions – one against Pau Cubarsi which resulted in a penalty against Barcelona, and then against Lamine Yamal, where Barcelona were given a free kick instead of a penalty, despite the foul being carried into the box.
Barca’s players and bench also complained about what they thought was a handball inside the box by Inter defender Acerbi and a foul by fullback Denzel Dumfries on Gerard Martin in the build-up to the equaliser which took the game to extra time.
“I don’t want to talk too much about the referee, but every decision that was 50-50 went (Inter’s) way,” Flick said in a press conference.
“I am disappointed, but not with my team. They tried everything. It’s the way it is. We are out, but next year we will try again to make the fans happy.
“It makes me sad … My team did an excellent job. I don’t like talking about the referee … I’ve told him what I think, but I’m not going to say here what I’ve said…”
Barca were chasing a treble after winning the Copa del Rey, but will now turn their focus to La Liga, where they top the table and on Sunday host rivals Real Madrid, who trail them by four points with four games to go.
The five-time winners were hoping to reach their first Champions League final since 2015, but were left licking their wounds ahead of Sunday’s ‘El Clasico’. Unbeaten domestically since late December, Barcelona will try to grab a fourth consecutive victory over Real this season.
“We’ll learn from this. It’s a progression. We want to keep learning. We don’t have much time to train now, but next weekend we are back. It’s normal to be disappointed,” Flick said.
“The team deserves the respect they have earned. We play to win, we want to win titles and we have La Liga, with a very difficult match. We have a few days to prepare for this match. Each player, when they get home, can look in the mirror and be proud of themselves. We’ll analyse the game calmly and see what we can do,” the coach concluded.