Barcelona Will Protest Officiating Against Atletico Madrid – Rafa Yuste

Barcelona’s interim president, Rafa Yuste, has criticised the performance of Romanian referee Estefán Kovács, during the club’s Champions League quarter-final first leg against Atletico Madrid at the Camp Nou. He recently had his say while speaking to the press, and fans have been reacting.

Condemning the failure to award Barcelona a penalty for Bobel’s handball, he confirmed that the club is considering drafting an official protest.

Rafa added that regardless of whether the incident was intentional or not, it obviously happened.

His words, “With all the technical tools at our disposal, including VAR, I fail to see why a clear penalty was not given against Atlético Madrid. With due respect, the incident was obvious, regardless of whether it was intentional or not.

I won’t dwell on the officiating. The decisive second leg is still to come, and we fully believe in our ability to stage a comeback.

We now have a very important match against Espanyol, and as president, I don’t want anything to distract the club, the players and the coaching staff from the focus required for this match.

We at the club are considering issuing a statement. We cannot forget—as memories are sometimes short—that something similar happened to us in the Cup at Atlético Madrid’s ground. We must condemn this; otherwise, there will be no improvement. We all make mistakes, but this happens far too often, and we cannot overlook it.”

WOW.

Futbol Club Barcelona is a professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish football.

Founded in 1899 by a group of Swiss, Catalan, German, and English footballers led by Joan Gamper, the club has become a symbol of Catalan culture and Catalanism, hence the motto “Més que un club” (“More than a club”). Unlike many other football clubs, the supporters own and operate Barcelona. It is the third-most valuable sports team in the world, worth $5.51 billion, and the world’s fourth richest football club in terms of revenue, with an annual turnover of €582.1 million.

The official Barcelona anthem is the “Cant del Barça”, written by Jaume Picas and Josep Maria Espinàs. Barcelona traditionally play in dark shades of blue and garnet stripes, hence nicknamed Blaugrana.

In March 2021, Lionel Messi overtook Xavi’s record of 767 games played for the club, and presently has made 778 official appearances in all competitions, while also holding the record for the most appearances in La Liga matches for Barcelona, with 520.