After Barcelona secured a 2-2 draw against Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) in the UEFA Champions League quarter-final, the club expressed dissatisfaction with certain refereeing decisions. Barcelona’s spokesperson, Toni Freixa, released a statement outlining the club’s concerns and announcing their intention to file a complaint with UEFA.
One of the incidents mentioned in the statement involves referee Wolfgang Stark’s decision to prevent Javier Mascherano and Jordi Alba, who had received treatment, from re-entering the field while PSG was preparing to take a corner. According to the statement, when two players from the same team remain on the ground, the referee is supposed to stop the match, which Stark did not do, and he cannot force them to leave the playing field.
The statement emphasizes that the club is not disputing refereeing errors but wants to draw attention to instances where the referee may not have followed the rules correctly. The club expresses the hope that such incidents do not recur.
This development adds a layer of controversy to an already intense Champions League quarter-final tie. Both teams, Barcelona and PSG, had their own grievances with refereeing decisions during the match, setting the stage for an intriguing return leg.
