Raphinha Calls Barcelona’s Champions League Exit a Robbery
Barcelona are out of the Champions League and Raphinha is in no mood to dress it up.
Still sidelined by injury and forced to watch from the stands, the Brazilian forward unloaded after Barça’s quarter-final elimination by Atletico Madrid, calling the tie “a robbery” and tearing into the refereeing across both legs.
Barça won the second leg 2-1 on Tuesday night, but it was never enough to erase the 2-0 defeat they had suffered in the first game. Across 180 minutes, Xavi’s side finished with a player sent off in each leg, both times after a yellow card was upgraded to red following VAR intervention for denying an obvious goalscoring opportunity.
First Leg
In the first leg, Pau Cubarsi saw red from referee Istvan Kovacs. In the return match, it was Eric Garcia’s turn, dismissed by Clement Turpin after another trip to the pitchside monitor. Two young defenders, two near-identical outcomes, and a furious club left counting the cost.
The sense of grievance in Barcelona had already been simmering. Kovacs and video assistant referee Christian Dingert came under heavy criticism from the Catalan side for refusing to stop play when Atletico defender Marc Pubill handled the ball inside his own area in the first leg, despite Barça insisting a clear penalty had been missed.
Their anger escalated into a formal complaint. Barça took the matter to Uefa, denouncing what they called a “grave lack of VAR intervention” over the Pubill incident. On Tuesday, European football’s governing body shut that door firmly, declaring the protest “inadmissible”.
Raphinha's Comments
Into that context walked Raphinha, 29, who did not hold back when he faced reporters after the second leg.
“For me, this match was a robbery. Not just this match but the other one as well,” he said. “The refereeing was really bad, the decisions [Turpin] makes are unbelievable.
“I don't know how many fouls Atletico made but the referee didn't give them a single yellow card. I really want to understand why they're so afraid that Barcelona will come and win.”
The numbers back part of his frustration. Atletico finished the second leg without a single booking. Barcelona, chasing the tie, ended with one yellow and Garcia’s red.
In the first leg, Pubill had been one of three Atletico players booked after he handled the ball following what appeared to be a goal-kick restart from goalkeeper Juan Musso. That moment became the flashpoint of Barça’s fury with VAR and the officiating team.
For Raphinha, the pattern was too stark to ignore.
“It was tough, especially when you realise you have to work three times as hard to win the match,” he said. “I think this tie was quite misleading, in my view. I think everyone can make mistakes; everyone is human.
“But when the mistakes keep repeating themselves in exactly the same way, I think that's something we need to pay attention to.”
Those comments will now be pored over in Nyon. Uefa confirmed that its disciplinary body will study the reports from Tuesday’s game before deciding on any possible next steps, which could include a charge against the former Leeds United winger for his remarks.
Atletico's Response
On the other side of the divide, Atletico were having none of it. For Musso, the goalkeeper at the heart of the first-leg controversy, the narrative of injustice simply does not stand.
“You can't say this match was stolen from them; that's ridiculous,” he said. “They acted as if they should have had three penalties and we should have had four sendings-off. We won on the pitch, 2–0 away, and when you're the last man back, you get a red card.”
Two clubs, two versions of the same tie. One talks of robbery, repetition and fear of Barcelona. The other points to a 3-2 aggregate scoreline and the cold logic of the laws.
The result, though, is not in dispute. Atletico march on. Barcelona are left to rage, to appeal, and to wonder how many more nights like this they can afford in Europe.
