Barcelona boss Hansi Flick fumes as Marc Pubill's handball goes unpunished in Atletico Madrid's UEFA Champions League quarter-final first leg win

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Barcelona were left with a mountain to climb in their UEFA Champions League quarter-final against Atletico Madrid as they were beaten 2-0 in the first leg. Goals from Julian Alvarez and Alexander Sorloth gave Diego Simeone his first win as a manager at Camp Nou but Pau Cubarsi's red card for a professional foul might have been evened up when Marc Pubill appeared to handle inside the box.

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Hansi Flick questioned the validity of VAR after watching Barcelona fall on the wrong end of refereeing decisions during Atletico Madrid's 2-0 victory at Camp Nou in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League quarter-final tie.

Already down to 10 men after Pau Cubarsi was sent off for a professional foul and trailing to Julian Alvarez's exquisite free-kick, Flick was irate on the touchline 11 minutes into the second period when defender Marc Pubill escaped being penalised inside the box when he handled the ball at the restart.

Last season Aston Villa defender Tyrone Mings inexplicably gifted Club Brugge a penalty in similar circumstances, with German referee Tobias Stieler then awarding a penalty for handball during a league phase match.

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But Atletico were thankful to match official Istvan Kovacs for his apparent show of leniency, with goalkeeper Juan Musso not deemed to have restarted play when he passed the ball to his team-mate Pubill, who was already on a yellow card.

Flick had to hold his players back as they confronted referee Kovacs at the final whistle, clearly making reference to the Pubill incident - but the German initially refused to discuss the flash point at length.

"I don't want to speak about the referee... it's better for them and for me. It's unbelievable," Flick told TNT Sports. "The fourth official was speaking to the Atletico bench so didn't see it. I can't understand it. We weren't lucky today."

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But in follow-up interviews, the Barcelona head coach opined: "I think they deserved the red card, because the goalkeeper plays the ball.

"It's clear play, and he stopped the ball with his hand. It would be a double yellow, a red card and a penalty. We all make mistakes. We've lost 2-0, but we've had very good opportunities.

"I'm not sure if Cubarsi touches him enough for a red card. Their goalkeeper passed it to the centre-back, who touches the ball with his hand and the VAR didn't look at it. What's the point of having VAR?"

'Referee has got that massively wrong'

At the time, TNT Sports commentator Adam Summerton said: "That's what the Barcelona players are up in arms against. It's a similar incident to the one that went against Aston Villa when they played Club Brugge. Tyrone Mings was involved. I thought I would never see an incident like that again, but I was at that match as well."

Speaking afterwards in the TNT Sports studio, Joe Cole said: "Absolutely [it's a handball offence] as we've seen it before. The ball is in play. There's no pressure on him, so there's no reason for him to get panicky. It's just a lapse in concentration. It should be a penalty.

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"Pubill is then on a yellow card already, so he should get sent off. You get your stroke of luck, but I thought the referee was OK tonight as he let things go, but I thought he got this one wrong.

"It happened to Tyrone Mings and we as footballers can do strange things, but the rules are the rules. Barcelona are very unlucky not to have been given a lifeline back into the game."

Karen Carney had plenty of sympathy for Barcelona, who were reduced to 10 men on the stroke of half-time when Cubarsi's yellow card for hauling down Giuliano Simeone on the edge of the box was upgraded to a red upon VAR review.

‘This is unbelievable!’ – Flick critical of officials for missing ‘clear’ handball

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Alvarez dispatched the subsequent free-kick to turn the game completely on its head, with Sorloth's suckerpunch second coming after Barcelona had peppered Musso's goal in search of an equaliser.

"I thought the referee was actually quite poor," Carney told TNT Sports. "He had to go to VAR for the sending off which was right in front of him.

"Pubill's handball is clearly a penalty. I think he's got that massively wrong, and it's gone against Barcelona tonight. Pubill would've been given another yellow so he would've been off. He needed a bit of help on that decision, too."

It was a night to forget for Barcelona, who failed to score for only the second time in their past 31 Champions League fixtures.

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Indeed, it marked the first time that Flick's side had blanked at home in 39 games in all competitions, with the result ending a 17-game winning streak on home soil.

Simeone went straight down the tunnel at the final whistle having finally tasted victory as a manager at Camp Nou with Atletico victorious at this ground for the first time since 2006.

"I don't think my Atleti had ever won at Camp Nou," Simeone said at his post-match press conference.

"It's very difficult. They're arguably the best team in Europe, along with Paris and Bayern. Through good teamwork, we were able to capitalise on key moments in the match.

"The second goal gave us more confidence and it's a shame we couldn't extend our lead further. I could tell you a thousand stories about matches where we had 30 shots and didn't score. Football is wonderful because clinical finishing is key. Today we were extremely clinical. Other nights we weren't. It's a good result, but with an opponent that will surely make us suffer on Tuesday."

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