Barcelona 0-2 Atlético Madrid controversy: VAR, penalties, red card decisions

Barcelona lost 0-2 to Atlético Madrid in the Champions League quarter-final first leg, thanks to goals from Julián Álvarez and Alexander Sørloth either side of the break.

However, the game wasn’t without incident. As such, Iturralde González, referee analyst, has taken a look at the most controversial and disputed incidents from the Champions League quarter-final between the two sides.

The most striking controversial moment of the match between Barça and Atlético came in the second half, with the score at 0–1, in an almost comical sequence. Musso took a goal kick towards Pubill and the defender, instead of continuing play, touched the ball again with his hand.

“This is a gigantic technical error. A crystal-clear penalty. And then they talk about Spanish referees… this is a scandal!” exclaimed Iturralde González when he saw that the referee, Kovacs, did not award anything. He continued his explanation: “It’s such a huge technical mistake. One of the biggest errors in a long time. The VAR has to call him.”

Because in the laws of the game, the procedure for goal kicks states the following: “The ball must be stationary and a player from the defending team will kick it from any point within the goal area. The ball is in play once it has been kicked and clearly moves.” And that is exactly what happened. Musso played it to Pubill and the centre-back, momentarily distracted, grabbed the ball with his hand to take the kick again. An error of such magnitude that it “took the referee out of the game”. However, the incident would not have meant a second yellow card for Pubill because, as Iturralde explained, “it was not a promising attack”.

It was not the only controversy. The match at Camp Nou between Barça and Atlético had begun at a furious pace. At that speed, a shot from Nahuel Molina that rebounded onto Cubarsí’s hand inside the Barça penalty area largely went unnoticed. However, according to Iturralde González, it was not enough to award a penalty. “It hits his right hand, but it comes from a rebound. Even if it touches him and his arm is raised, nothing should be given,” explained the former international referee.

More controversial was Cubarsí’s foul on Giuliano Simeone when the Argentine was running through one-on-one against Joan García. Especially because Kovacs, the referee, initially showed him a yellow card. However, the VAR alerted him to review the play and check that it was actually a red card. He did so and, ultimately, the Barça centre-back was sent off. “It’s a red card. What happens is that maybe on the pitch the referee did not have the best angle. But VAR had to alert him,” said Iturralde González, who accurately described the refereeing team’s procedure step by step. The former referee also explained why it was a foul: “A trip that comes from rugby. You run behind the player, the forward seems to trip by himself, but he doesn’t. The defender makes him trip.”

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