Joan Laporta the latest to blame referee for Barcelona’s UCL exit | OneFootball

Barcelona president Joan Laporta has on Wednesday taken firm aim at referee Szymon Marciniak.

This comes amid mounting claims in Catalunya’s capital that the official was directly to blame for the club’s Champions League exit.

Barcelona were of course sent packing from Europe on Tuesday night.

After coming within minutes of booking their spot in the Champions League finale, Hansi Flick’s troops were pegged back by Inter Milan at the death.

From here, the Italian champions then notched a decisive winner through Davide Frattesi in extra-time.

And in the time since the full-time whistle at San Siro, those of a Barca persuasion have made crystal clear their collective opinion that the aforementioned Szymon Marciniak was a central figure as to why.

Hansi Flick, for one, stated:

“Every 50/50 decision that the ref had, he called it in Inter’s favor. This makes me sad.”

Blaugrana midfielder Pedri then added:

“It’s not the first time this has happened to us with this referee. UEFA should look into it. Every 50/50 for them. There are things that I don’t understand and which are hard to explain.”

And as alluded to above, on Wednesday evening, Joan Laporta has added his name to the list of Marciniak’s critics, too.

Speaking to Barcelona’s official media channel, in quotes which have since turned heads across Spain, Blaugrana president Laporta vented:

“We fought to reach the final, but it wasn’t possible. The reason for this is mainly due to referee decisions that harmed us. This should make us stronger. It should make us stronger to have the mentality to win the league.”

Conor Laird – GSFN