Referee made some contentious decisions…
Players from Barcelona and Atletico Madrid have been critical of last night’s referee, Jesus Gil Manzano, for the Copa Del Rey quarter-final after the official made a number of questionable decisions, reports the Mirror.
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Barcelona progress to the semi-final of the Copa Del Rey with a 4-2 aggregate win in an ill-tempered fixture, but the performance of the match official didn’t go unnoticed by both sides.
The referee endured a busy evening for the Spanish cup-tie – including a sending off two Atletico players, a penalty, a disallowed goal as well as 13 yellow cards over the 90 minutes.
Gabi, who was sent off at the interval, had this to say regarding the decision:
“My words to the referee at half-time were ‘Jesus, it was a penalty and a red card’ and he sent me off. The dismissal hurt me, above all, for the team, because they were left with ten and it showed,” said Atletico captain Gabi.
“It’s okay to make mistakes, but not to go beyond and to want to be the protagonist.”
Barcelona midfielder Sergio Busquets echoed Gabi’s fury after their side were denied a penalty:
“The referee got it wrong with both teams. The hands have affected us many times in La Liga and we have not complained,” Busquets said.
Nonetheless, there was one certain incident that Diego Simeone knows is fortunate his player didn’t get red-card for…