Sent off after 1-2 and just after a post by Gündogan –then the game was going to extra time–, for protesting and asking for a foul in the center of the field, Xavi left his box where he took refuge to go down to the field just before the final whistle. With the match over, the Barcelona coach entered the field to speak with the Romanian referee. Kóvacs reluctantly took his hand. Probably because he didn’t like Xavi’s comments. “I told him that he didn’t understand the game, that it was very bad and it was a disaster,” confessed the player from Terrassa, who harshly criticized the referee’s actions because he believes that he buried all of his team’s options.
“It is a shame that the work of an entire season ends here due to a referee decision. “It is an unnecessary expulsion,” Xavi insisted for Araújo’s action on Barcola after half an hour. “The play changes the tie completely,” he said about the defeat and elimination.
The Egarense coach charged again and again with what, in his opinion, is a mistake by the referee. “We are upset and angry. The play marks the tie. It’s too much red whistle on that play. From there there is another game,” he analyzed.
From below, Frenkie de Jong judged Araújo’s expulsion to be rigorous. “Barcola control was very far away. That was my feeling on the field, that the ball was for the goalkeeper. But I have not seen the repeated images,” he said.
The Dutchman judged the punishment of playing outnumbered for more than an hour too much. “We scored 1-0 which gave us an important advantage but in Europe when you play with ten for so long against a team like PSG you end up suffering.”
Xavi picked up the same thread. “We had a 2-2 draw with Gündogan and before that a 2-0 draw with Lewandowski. We can continue talking a lot but playing behind and with ten is very complicated,” he added.
To restructure the team, it was his decision to remove Lamine Yamal to make way for a center back like Iñigo. “We have hesitated because Pedri was coming back from an injury. But at the top we had legs with Raphinha and we also wanted control,” he reasoned his choice to replace the 16-year-old winger.
“With ten it’s another game,” Ter Stegen added. “It has affected because until then we had everything in our favor. We would have liked to go into the break with a two-goal lead but 1-1 is a great goal,” the goalkeeper lamented Dembélé’s goal. The German was a little more understanding with the expulsion. “If the referee whistles, he has to send him off. “He grabs it,” he said, after watching a replay on Movistar.
“We are disappointed because we had it close even though in the end the result says otherwise,” was Ter Stegen’s conclusion.
“We had a great hope to overcome the tie together. And now all of us culés are disappointed,” admitted Rafa Yuste, the Blaugrana sports vice president, who publicly congratulated PSG.
De Jong also recognized the emotional setback. “We have tried and we have fought but in the end it was not enough for us. It is a strong blow because we were convinced that we could be in the semifinals. Next year we will try again,” the midfielder promised.
Will Xavi try again? They asked the coach, who announced in January that he would leave in June. “Barça will try again, I’m not the important one. “I think the team has had a remarkable Champions League”, it was highlighted.
