Hansi Flick explodes against VAR and responds to Arbeloa’s controversy: “Making a mistake once is one thing, but twice is unacceptable!”
Barcelona is in shock and the outrage is complete! Following the controversial defeat in the Champions League quarter-finals against Atlético de Madrid, Barça’s coach, Hansi Flick, does not hide his discontent and confusion regarding VAR’s role in a decisive incident that could have changed the course of the match. The German coach questions the lack of intervention from the technology in the situation involving Marc Pubill, which many consider a clear penalty, and does not hold back in his criticism of the officiating, which he claims was detrimental to his team.
The Catalan club has already filed a complaint with UEFA, furious with referee Kovacs’ decision and, above all, with the lack of VAR review at that crucial moment. “I don’t know what the outcome will be, but for me and the team, it’s important that the club supports us in this process because it was an injustice. Making a mistake once is one thing, but making it twice cannot happen. The club’s support is essential for us,” Flick stated, in a firm and determined tone.
The Barça coach does acknowledge that the team was not at its best, but insists that the VAR error was decisive in the defeat. “Of course, I believe that VAR is meant to help. If the VAR team saw something wrong, they should have alerted the referee to review the incident. That’s what I felt was missing in the game against Atlético. There are many things we can improve, it’s true, we made mistakes, but at that moment, the game was decided by that incident,” he emphasized.
In the same line of controversies, Barcelona’s coach also responded to the inflammatory statements made by Álvaro Arbeloa, former player and current coach of Real Madrid, who has been criticizing refereeing in Spain, mentioning the Negreira case and insinuating a supposed favoritism against Real Madrid. Arbeloa described this scandal as the biggest in football history.
Flick did not want to engage in controversy and downplayed his rival’s words: “Nothing, nothing. I don’t waste energy on that. It’s his opinion, so be it. I focus on my team, nothing more.” The Barça coach concluded with a clear message for his players: “I don’t care about these matters. It’s a business, there’s a lot of noise around us, but I always tell the team to concentrate on ourselves and not on what Real Madrid does. We are in a good position, we need to win every game and only think about our path.”
Barcelona is now preparing for the Catalan derby against Espanyol, which will be played this Saturday at 18:30 at Camp Nou, with the Blaugrana leading the league by seven points over their great rival Real Madrid, who play on Friday against Girona. The pressure is all on the Merengues, while Flick and his Barcelona aim to consolidate their lead and leave behind the controversies that have marked the final stretch of the season.
Don’t miss the upcoming updates and exclusive analyses on the championship, with all the latest news and the hottest rumors from Spanish football. Stay tuned!
This article first appeared on Apito Final.
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