{"id":398,"date":"2026-04-10T21:17:17","date_gmt":"2026-04-10T21:17:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/398\/"},"modified":"2026-04-10T21:17:17","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T21:17:17","slug":"barcelona-file-official-complaint-to-uefa-after-champions-league-loss-to-atletico-madrid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/398\/","title":{"rendered":"Barcelona file official complaint to UEFA after Champions League loss to Atletico Madrid"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"mb-[20px] md:mb-[30px] break-word\"><a href=\"https:\/\/bolavip.com\/en\/soccer\/barcelona-vs-atletico-madrid-live-2026-uefa-champions-league-quarterfinals-first-leg\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"break-word text-(--theme-primary-color) hover:text-(--theme-text-color) hover:bg-(--theme-primary-color) cursor-pointer font-bold border-b-(length:--theme-border-width) border-b-(--theme-border-color)\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Atletico Madrid defeated Barcelona 2-0<\/a> at the Spotify Camp Nou in the first leg of the <a href=\"https:\/\/bolavip.com\/en\/topic\/champions-league\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"break-word text-(--theme-primary-color) hover:text-(--theme-text-color) hover:bg-(--theme-primary-color) cursor-pointer font-bold border-b-(length:--theme-border-width) border-b-(--theme-border-color)\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Champions League<\/a> quarterfinals. While the visitors capitalized on an early red card shown to Pau Cubarsi, Barcelona was left fuming over a controversial second-half sequence involving Juan Musso and Marc Pubill, leading the club to lodge an official complaint with <a href=\"https:\/\/bolavip.com\/en\/topic\/uefa\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"break-word text-(--theme-primary-color) hover:text-(--theme-text-color) hover:bg-(--theme-primary-color) cursor-pointer font-bold border-b-(length:--theme-border-width) border-b-(--theme-border-color)\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">UEFA<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-[20px] md:mb-[30px] break-word\">The club\u2019s frustration is directed at referee Istvan Kovacs and the VAR crew for failing to penalize a sequence where goalkeeper Musso took a goal kick with his feet to Pubill, who then stopped the ball with his hand to restart the play himself.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-[20px] md:mb-[30px] break-word\"><a href=\"https:\/\/bolavip.com\/en\/topic\/barcelona\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"break-word text-(--theme-primary-color) hover:text-(--theme-text-color) hover:bg-(--theme-primary-color) cursor-pointer font-bold border-b-(length:--theme-border-width) border-b-(--theme-border-color)\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Barcelona<\/a> contend that because Kovacs had already blown his whistle to restart play, Musso\u2019s pass put the ball in play. Therefore, Pubill\u2019s handling of the ball should have resulted in a penalty for the home side and a second yellow card for the defender. While the complaint is unlikely to change the match result, it could lead to sanctions for the officiating crew.<\/p>\n<p>Barcelona\u2019s official statement<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-[20px] md:mb-[30px] break-word\">One day after the controversy, Barcelona announced via their <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fcbarcelona.com\/en\/club\/news\/4485123\/fc-barcelona-statement\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\" class=\"break-word text-(--theme-primary-color) hover:text-(--theme-text-color) hover:bg-(--theme-primary-color) cursor-pointer font-bold border-b-(length:--theme-border-width) border-b-(--theme-border-color)\">official website<\/a> that legal services had submitted a formal grievance to UEFA. The statement focused specifically on the incident between Musso and Pubill, claiming the officials failed to adhere to the Laws of the Game.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-[20px] md:mb-[30px] break-word\">\u201cFC Barcelona inform that the Club legal services have submitted a complaint to UEFA today regarding the events in the UEFA Champions League quarterfinal first leg against <a href=\"https:\/\/bolavip.com\/en\/topic\/atletico-madrid\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"break-word text-(--theme-primary-color) hover:text-(--theme-text-color) hover:bg-(--theme-primary-color) cursor-pointer font-bold border-b-(length:--theme-border-width) border-b-(--theme-border-color)\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Atletico Madrid<\/a>. The Club considers that the refereeing did not adhere to the current law, directly influencing how the game progressed and the result,\u201d the club stated.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-[20px] md:mb-[30px] break-word\">\u201c\u2026Accordingly, the Club has requested an investigation be opened, access to refereeing communications, and where applicable, official acknowledgment of the errors and the adoption of the relevant measures\u2026\u201d Barcelona wrote.<\/p>\n<p>Hansi Flick slams referee and VAR performance<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-[20px] md:mb-[30px] break-word\">Following the match, Barcelona manager Hansi Flick was categorical in his criticism of Kovacs and the VAR room regarding the disputed play. The German manager compared his defender\u2019s dismissal to what he believed should have been a red card for Pubill.<\/p>\n<p class=\"break-word\">\u201cWe all make mistakes, but I don\u2019t know\u2026 Cubarsi is sent off for a touch that doesn\u2019t seem like enough for a red card, yet their keeper passes it to the center-back who touches it with his hand and VAR doesn\u2019t intervene. What is the point of having VAR then?\u201d Flick said visibly frustated by the referee\u2019s decision.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/bolavip.com\/en\/staff\/gtaina\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Gianni-52x52.webp\" alt=\"Gianni Taina\" width=\"80\" height=\"80\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"rounded-full\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"mt-[10px] hidden min-h-[72px] text-(length:--theme-text-size) leading-[20px] md:block md:min-h-[52px]\" style=\"--theme-text-size:14px\">Gianni Taina is a bilingual journalist, fluent in English and Spanish, with a specialization in soccer, NBA, and tennis. He began his professional career in 2020 with Mundo Deportivo US, where he first established himself as a writer. Throughout his career, Gianni has covered major sports events such as the FIFA World Cup in Qatar, the NBA Finals, and Grand Slam tournaments like the French Open. His ability to report on real-time events and perform well under pressure has made him a valuable member of a top-tier team of journalists. In 2024, he joined Bolavip US, bringing his expertise in soccer, NBA, and tennis to deliver original content while providing live coverage of important events.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Atletico Madrid defeated Barcelona 2-0 at the Spotify Camp Nou in the first leg of the Champions League&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":399,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[179,92,187,415],"class_list":{"0":"post-398","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-barcelona","8":"tag-atletico-madrid","9":"tag-barcelona","10":"tag-champions-league","11":"tag-uefa"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/398","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=398"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/398\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/399"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=398"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=398"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=398"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}