FC Barcelona has its back against the wall in the Copa del Rey. After the 0-4 defeat at Atletico Madrid, coach Hansi Flick did not look for excuses, but at the same time sharply criticized the refereeing team.
It wasn’t just the fans at the Metropolitano who rubbed their eyes several times on Thursday evening after the first half. The scoreboard showed 4-0 for Atlético Madrid. In the history of FC Barcelona, you have to go back quite a way to find such a gruesome first half.
In fact, it was in 1953 when Barcelona last found themselves 4-0 down at halftime, in a league match against archrivals Real Madrid. “We didn’t play well and need to focus on the second leg,” said Barca coach Hansi Flick after the devastating Copa del Rey semifinal first leg.
“We didn’t see the team I want to see in the first half,” Flick clarified, adding: “I’m not disappointed in my team, but proud of the season they’ve had so far.” Atletico simply had “the greater hunger for goals” this time, he said. “There are no excuses today,” Flick emphasized, “but we will come back.” All it takes in the second leg is “a 2-0 in the first half and a 2-0 in the second half” to reset everything to zero.
Disallowed goal: “It was clear to me that it wasn’t offside.”
The former Bayern coach then sharply criticized the refereeing team led by Juan Martinez Munuera. Seven minutes after the restart, Barcelona almost made it 1-4, but Pau Cubarsi’s goal was subsequently disallowed.
Flick called the fact that the VAR check took a total of seven minutes a “disaster.” The review took what felt like an eternity, partly because the semi-automatic offside technology had apparently failed.
“For me, it’s crazy that it takes so long to clarify such a situation,” Flick complained: “Seven minutes, come on! When I saw the scene, it was clear to me that it wasn’t offside. Maybe they saw something else. Then they should tell us, but there’s no communication.”
In the end, Joker Robert Lewandowski, whose future is currently the subject of wild speculation, prevented the hoped-for 1-4 with a backheel. Flick was not satisfied with this explanation: “They found something to disallow the goal and didn’t even explain why.” In the return leg on March 3, Barcelona would like to make sporting headlines again.
