Barcelona‘s board is considering the option of sending a formal complaint to UEFA about the refereeing of Istvan Kovacs in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-final against Bayern Munich. The Catalan club is extremely angry about the decisions made by the Romanian throughout the match and also those of his VAR assistant. Hansi Flick spoke openly at the end of the match, demonstrating his anger.
The German complained that the VAR did not intervene in the play in which Pubill touched the ball with his hand inside the area. Flick considered that the ball was already in play and that, therefore, the referee should have called the foul, sent off the red and white defender and awarded a penalty. Neither Kovacs nor the VAR intervened in the play and nothing happened.
Barcelona’s anger is also due to other incidents, especially Cubarsi’s sending off. The referee saw the action and simply awarded a foul and showed the Barcelona player a yellow card. On this occasion, the VAR did intervene and the Romanian then changed his decision and decided to send off Cubarsi. Barcelona do not understand the criteria by which, on some occasions yes and on others no, the VAR acts.
Complaints about yellow cards
Another reason for the complaints is the referee’s criteria when it comes to showing cards. Barcelona understands that Koke should have been sent off because Kovacs forgave him the second yellow card. It would have been in the first half and before Cubarsi’s sending off, but the referee did not consider it appropriate to show him the second yellow card.
It should not be forgotten that Barcelona already sent a formal complaint about the refereeing to the RFEF after the first leg of the Copa del Rey semi-final, in which the Blaugrana lost 4-0. In that case, the complaint focused on the play in which Munuera took seven minutes to disallow a goal by Cubarsi.
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