Barcelona man Inigo Martinez reacts to spitting incident with Inter’s Francesco Acerbi | OneFootball

Barcelona veteran Inigo Martinez has denied accusations that he spat at Inter defender Francesco Acerbi on Tuesday night, following Inter’s second goal. The two had to be separated by their teammates in the aftermath, with VAR checking for a red card in the process.

The incident occurred after Hakan Calhanoglu’s penalty towards the end of the first half, as the Turkish playmaker converted the spot kick against Wojciech Szczesny. As the celebrations began for Inter, Acerbi celebrated at Martinez as he ran past, and the Basque defender appeared to spit in his direction.

Inigo Martinez’s reaction to the incident

Acerbi reacted to it, and a melee ensued between both sets of players, with Szymon Marciniak avoiding any action. Martinez was asked about the incident, but rotundly denied the idea he had spat at Acerbi.

“Acerbi celebrated the goal in my ear, I got angry, but the spit wasn’t at him; I would have been sent off immediately,” he told MD.

Image via El Correo

Frustration with the officials, optimism for Real Madrid

Martinez was one of several players who was not happy with Marciniak for his performance, feeling that a number of decisions went against the Blaugrana. ‘Everyone saw that the decisions always went for the same side’, he noted.

However he was also optmistic looking ahead to their decisive La Liga clash with Real Madrid on Sunday. “The team still has a lot of motivation, and we are going for Madrid without any issues,” he declared on the Clasico this Sunday.

Collateral damage from their Champions League elimination?

The question everyone is asking in Spain now is how this will impact Barcelona going into Sunday’s clash. In terms of fatigue and morale, Barcelona were dealt two tough blows. Hansi Flick asserted that Barcelona would be ‘fine by Thursday’ after the game, but it will be a tough job for the Blaugrana to pick themselves up.