Xavi on UCL loss: Referee was a ‘disaster’
Barcelona coach Xavi Hernández said the “disaster” of a referee eliminated them from the Champions League after a 4-1 defeat to Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday.
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Xavi calls referee a ‘disaster’
Xavi said Romanian referee Istvan Kovacs was a “disaster” for handing a red card to defender Ronald Araujo.
Barça led 1-0 in the 29th minute when Araujo was sent off for a last-man challenge on Bradley Barcola.
The Spanish manager said the red card ultimately killed Blaugrana’s hopes of advancing to the semi-finals.
“We are annoyed,” Xavi said. “The red card marked the tie. We were well organised 11 vs. 11. It completely changed everything. For me, it’s too much to send [Araújo] off there.”
“The referee was really bad, I told him, he was a disaster. He killed the tie. I don’t like speaking about referees but it has to be said. I don’t understand it.”
“It’s not good going down to 10 players and from that point on it’s another game. For as much as we speak [about the match], the red card marks everything.”
Xavi also received a red card for protesting the decision not to give a penalty for a Marquinhos challenge on Ilkay Gündogan.
“That was an error by me, it was my fault,” he acknowledged.
Missed opportunity
Barça came into Tuesday’s game with a 3-2 lead from the first leg.
However, PSG advanced with a 6-4 aggregate win and will face Borussia Dortmund in the semis.
Barcelona blew their chances to level on aggregate, and PSG superstar Kylian Mbappe sealed the victory in the 89th minute.
“We had the chance to equalise with [Ilkay Gundogan] hitting the post and could even have made it 2-0 before the red card with [Robert Lewandowski’s] shot which went just over,” Xavi added.
“It’s just a shame that the hard work of an entire season ends because of one refereeing decision. I would have liked it to be 11 vs. 11 for the whole game. It’s an unnecessary red.”
