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Barcelona coach Hansi Flick has blamed questionable officiating for his side’s defeat to Inter Milan in Tuesday’s UEFA Champions League semi-final first leg.
Both Inter and Barcelona were involved in one of the most thrilling Champions League clashes as the Italians triumphed 4-3 and go through 7-6 on aggregate.
Inter raced to a 2-0 lead but Barcelona fourth back to 2-2 and took the lead late in the game.
But the Serie A champions scored in added time and extra-time to progress to their second final in three seasons.
However, it was a rather controversial night at the San Siro, with Barcelona feeling particularly aggrieved at the performance of referee Szymon Marciniak.
Reacting to the loss Flick admitted that he has some frustrations, but he chose not to delve too much into the officiating.
“Some decisions were 50-50 and they have always gone to Inter. That’s football. We have to accept it. I’m very proud of my team. Sometimes you think that some of the referee’s decisions are unfair. But we have to accept it and start again next season. Winning the Champions League is one of our objectives and making our fans happy. They have supported us very well. We will be back next season.
“I think about it, about the refereeing decisions but I don’t want to talk about it. It’s not fair to my team, who did a huge job. I don’t like to talk about the referee. I’ve told him what I think but I’m not going to say it here.”
Flick was very proud of the performance produced by his squad.
“I’m disappointed but not with the players and their performance. They tried everything and that’s just the way it is. We are out but next year we will try again and try to make the whole club and the fans happy. Inter also play and are a great team. They defend very well and have good strikers.
“We will learn. It’s a progression. We want to keep learning. We don’t have much time to train. Next season we will be back.”
Football Espana
