Raphinha hits out at refereeing after Barcelona's Champions League exit to Atletico

[p]The Brazilian, sidelined through injury for both matches, accused ‌referees Clement Turpin, who officiated the second game, and ‌Istvan Kovacs, from the first, of "robbing" his team.[/p][p][b]"As far as I'm concerned, ‌it was a robbery, not just this match but the ‌other one (the first leg) as well,"[/b] [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/raphinha/xtBsDPam/"]Raphinha[/a] told reporters after [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/barcelona/SKbpVP5K/"]Barca[/a]'s [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/atl-madrid-jaarqpLQ/barcelona-SKbpVP5K/?mid=GAEOMmxS"]2-1 win[/a] on the night was not enough.[/p][p][b]"I think the refereeing is going ‌really badly; the decisions he (Turpin) makes are unbelievable ... ⁠I really want to understand ‌why they're so afraid that Barcelona will come and win."[/b][/p][p]Broadcast images showed ​Raphinha repeatedly making a grabbing motion with his hands after the final whistle, a gesture commonly associated with "stealing".[/p][p][b]"It was ​tough, especially when you realise you have to work three times as hard to win the match,"[/b] Raphinha added.[/p][embed guid="21311c8d-87bc-4c57-a67e-510f0a00b469" url="https://x.com/FCBarcelona/status/2044158963441111203" social-type="twitter" /][p][b]"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."[/b][/p][p]Reuters has asked UEFA for comment.[/p][p]In last week's first leg, Kovacs sent off [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/cubarsi-pau/UgTrNwCF/"]Pau Cubarsi[/a] in the 42nd minute after a VAR review for hauling down [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/simeone-giuliano/IJTJu41i/"]Giuliano Simeone[/a] as he raced clear on goal, upgrading an initial yellow card.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/atl-madrid/jaarqpLQ/"]Atletico[/a] scored from the resulting free kick, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/alvarez-julian/bBHauDIC/"]Julian Alvarez[/a] curling into the top right corner beyond [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/garcia-joan/vuAlEqes/"]Joan Garcia[/a].[/p][p][b]On Tuesday, Turpin followed a similar course as Barca defender Garcia was dismissed after a VAR review for holding [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/sorloth-alexander/QwqgNkTP/"]Alexander ‌Sorloth[/a] from behind while he ran through on goal.[/b][/p][embed guid="bdebb04b-0d19-4c2b-9d47-4e06899c288a" url="https://x.com/FCBarcelona/status/2044174579933810742" social-type="twitter" /][p]Barcelona had lodged ​a formal complaint, rejected by UEFA, over an incident early ‌in the second half of the first leg.[/p][p]They had appealed for a penalty after Atletico keeper [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/musso-juan/zB5O8dXn/"]Juan Musso[/a] appeared to put the ball back in play from a goal kick before [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/pubill-pages-marc/8EZ7QILP/"]Marc Pubill[/a] handled inside the six-yard box to retake ⁠it.[/p][p]Kovacs waved play on and ⁠VAR did not intervene, ‌prompting angry reactions from the Barcelona bench.[/p]