Barcelona lodge referee complaint to UEFA after suffering 'significant sporting and financial harm' in UEFA Champions League exit to Atletico

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Barcelona claim they have suffered "significant sporting and financial harm" as part of an official complaint to UEFA over the refereeing during their UEFA Champions League quarter-final against Atletico Madrid.

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Barca were incensed by a number of decisions across the two games, feeling that there should have been a red card for Atleti's Koke in the first leg, as well as a penalty and red card for Marc Pubill after a bizarre handball incident.

Lamine Yamal was the subject of some rough treatment from the Atleti players in both games, while the Blaugrana also saw a man sent off in both legs; Pau Cubarsi in the first leg at Camp Nou, and Eric Garcia in the return game in Madrid.

Barca forward Raphinha, who played no part in the tie due to injury, lamented the "incredible decisions" taken during the tie.

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”For me, it was a stolen game,” he told TNT Sports Brasil post-match. ”Not only this one, but others as well.

”I think the refereeing was very bad. It's incredible the decisions he made. Atletico committed I don't know how many fouls, and he judged them but didn't show them a yellow card.

”I really wanted to understand their fear of Barcelona coming to win.”

In their statement, Barca bemoaned the "incorrect application of the regulations".

It read: "FC Barcelona has submitted a complaint to UEFA regarding the refereeing performance in the Champions League quarter-final tie played against Atletico Madrid.

"The club considers that, across both legs of the tie, several refereeing decisions were made that did not comply with the Laws of the Game, resulting from an incorrect application of the regulations and a lack of appropriate intervention by the VAR system in incidents of clear significance.

"According to FC Barcelona, the accumulation of these errors had a direct impact on the course of the matches and on the final outcome of the tie, causing significant sporting and financial harm to the club.

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"Through this complaint, the Club reiterates the requests previously made to UEFA and, at the same time, offers to collaborate with the organisation with the aim of improving the refereeing system to ensure a more rigorous, fair and transparent application of the Laws of the Game."

With a healthy advantage over Real Madrid, Barca are favourites to win La Liga, which will act as some consolation for their European exit.

But the scars of this year's exit will sting, as the Blaugrana continue to seek a first Champions League title since 2015, having not reached a final since that year either.

This term's quarter-final exit marked the sixth time in the subsequent 11 seasons since 2015 that they have been knocked out in the last eight.

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