The Barcelona Manager, Xavi Hernandez, has attributed his team’s Champions League elimination against Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday night to the referee’s actions
Barcelona were dumped out of the competition after an eventful evening in Spain that saw Paris Saint-Germain, PSG leave with a 4-1 victory and a 6-2 aggregate score.
Barcelona took the lead through Raphinha, putting the Spaniards 3-1 up on aggregate in the tie. But Ronald Arajuo was sent off for bringing down Bradley Barcola in the first half, and PSG made their man advantage count with four uninterrupted goals.
“It’s a shame that the work of a whole season ends here because of a refereeing decision,” said the coach.
“This dismissal is unnecessary.”
Xavi was sent off for a show of dissent on the sideline as Barcelona lost their heads in the second half and he criticised Romanian referee Istvan Kovacs.
“The referee was very bad, I told him, he didn’t understand the game,” said the coach.
Araujo’s red card led Xavi to take off 16-year-old winger Lamine Yamal, who created Barcelona’s opening goal for Raphinha, with Inigo Martinez coming on to fill the hole in defence.
“We’re angry, the red card defines the tie,” continued Xavi.
“We were well organised, for me, it’s too much to give a red card, from there it’s another tie.
“We had doubts about whether to take off Lamine, he was doing well — that moment completely defined the tie.”
Barcelona are eight points behind Real Madrid in the LaLiga title race and face Los Blancos on Sunday at the Santiago Bernabeu.
