Atletico Madrid head coach Diego Simeone launched a thinly veiled criticism of refereeing decisions during his team’s 1-1 draw at Barcelona on Tuesday night, which saw the home team advance to the Copa del Rey final on a 3-2 aggregate win in the semi-final tie.
The Madrid side had a goal disallowed early in the second half, when they were trailing 1-0, although TV replays showed that Antoine Griezmann was on side and the goal should have counted.
Atletico were also unhappy that Carrasco was sent shortly after Barcelona’s Sergi Roberto saw a second yellow card in the 59th minute, which meant the hosts played with a man less during no more than 10 minutes.
“Each side sees the things that are more convenient to their own team, but it is clear to me that why we have more options in the Champions League than we do in La Liga or the Copa del Rey,” Simeone said on Gol TV, implying that domestic referees favoured Barcelona.
“Referees can make mistakes. It is normal that when a player makes a mistake he gets suspended, I don’t know if they suspend the referees though.
“The previous time we came here [at Camp Nou] we ended up playing with nine players and I had said that something good could come out of all this, now I feel the same way.
“If I were a fan of Atletico I would be very proud of my team.”