Former Spanish referee Eduardo Iturralde has said that the incident involving Ronald Araujo and Bradley Barcola should not have resulted in a red card for the former.
He added that judging by the look, the PSG forward threw himself to the ground as he knew there could be serious repercussions for the Barcelona defender of this action.
“It’s not even a foul. PSG throws, Barcola dived there,” said the former referee in a chat with Carrusel Deportivo.
“The VAR does not come in because from there they consider it good, they validate Kovacs’ decision,” he added.
It is to be noted that match referee, Istvan Kovacs, issued a red card to Ronald Araujo in the 29th minute for a foul on Barcola just outside the penalty area.
This crucial moment ultimately determined the outcome of the match and secured Paris Saint-Germain’s spot in the Champions League semi-finals.
The red card changed the game
Last night took a somber turn for Araujo, who had been the crucial player until his unfortunate red card.
The defender had, in fact, played a role in Barcelona’s opener after a crucial pass to Lamine Yamal, setting up a one-on-one opportunity against Nuno Mendes that resulted in a 1-0 score.
Until then, things had looked promising for Barcelona, with solid defensive play and effective tactics against Kylian Mbappe and the wingers Barcola and Ousmane Dembele.
However, Araujo’s expulsion changed the game as Barcelona’s performance began to decline rapidly.
Ultimately, Xavi decided to substitute Yamal with another defender, Inigo Martinez and this move left Lewandowski on the field for his aerial prowess and goal-scoring abilities, and Raphinha for his recent form in front of goal.
But without Yamal, they lost their threat in one-on-one situations, as well as his goal-scoring and assisting abilities.
Given the magnitude of the match, the standard of refereeing decisions should have been better and this one decision cost Barcelona a place in the semi-final.
