Xavi unhappy with ‘really bad’ referee on a chaotic night

BARCELONA: A “disaster performance” from the referee, “panic” from Barcelona’s players and “an unnecessary expulsion” were all blamed on a dramatic Tuesday evening at Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys as Paris St-Germain ran out 4-1 winners.

As Barcelona turned in a performance riddled with mistakes, referee Istvan Kovacs had a busy evening. The Romanian showed three red cards to the hosts - manager Xavi’s frustrations getting the better of him, before a member of his coaching staff was dismissed for dissent. That only compounded the damage done by Araujo’s red-card inducing challenge on Bradley Barcola early in the first half.

“The referee was really bad. I told him his performance was a disaster. I don’t like to talk about referees, but it had a clear impact in the season and it has to be said,” Xavi told Movistar Plus.

“We are very upset and angry because the red card was the decisive factor in the match. With 11, we were in a good position, playing well and in command.

“It’s too much to flash a red card in a game like this. There was another game after that... It is a pity that the work of the season was ruined by an unnecessary expulsion.”

“You can’t make mistakes in the Champions League,” former Barcelona striker Thierry Henry told CBS.

“If you make mistakes, you pay the price straight away and that’s why it is so hard to win that competition because you cannot make one mistake.”

“It is a shame that all the work of a season, because of a refereeing decision, finishes here,” Xavi told CBS.

“I would have liked to have played 11 v 11 against Luis Enrique and against PSG

[for] all the minutes of the game. We know that there are sendings off in football but I believe that this one [for Araujo] was unnecessary.”

There were a total of 12 cards shown on the night to add to the five goals, a penalty and Ilkay Gundogan’s strike which clipped the woodwork.