Xavi and Barcelona fail at PSG: “Referee a disaster”

Xavi, the coach of FC Barcelona, ​​has with great anger blamed the Romanian referee Istvan Kovacs for the elimination in the quarter-finals of the Champions League. “It’s a pity. Our Champions League is over because of the referee’s mistakes. I told the referee he was a disaster. That’s the reality,” said the former Spanish world and European champion after FC Barcelona’s 4-1 defeat against Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday evening.

An early red card for Barça defender Ronald Araujo after an emergency stop (29th minute) initiated the turnaround in favor of the French. PSG turned 0-1 into 4-1, overturning the 2-3 result from the first leg.

Game ends after sending off

The French will face Borussia Dortmund in the semi-finals. PSG are looking forward to their first final since 2020, when they lost 1-0 against FC Bayern under Thomas Tuchel. The sending off of Araujo changed the whole game, said Xavi.

Initially everything went according to plan for his team. After fine preparatory work by the 16-year-old Lamine Yamal, Raphina was there and scored the 1-0 (12th). After the red card against Araujo, PSG took command and created a series of chances.

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After Barcola’s assist, Dembélé gave the German national goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen no chance and equalized (40th), after the break Vitinha scored with a remarkable long-range shot to make it 2-1 (54th). The preliminary decision resulted from a penalty. This was preceded by the unnecessary foul by former Bayern professional Joao Cancelo against Dembélé.

Superstar Kylian Mbappé didn’t miss the chance (61′) and made everything clear shortly before the end with his goal to make the final score 4-1. This means that the striker can still hope for an international title at the end of his seven-year era in the PSG jersey. The 2018 World Cup winner is expected to move to Barça rivals Real Madrid in the summer.

And Barça coach Xavi? He was so angry during the game that he kicked away a frame from a TV camera and had to clear the coaching area because of it. Later, one of his assistants also saw the red card.