The other respect that Barça must regain in Europe

Special Envoy to Milan"I think this team has earned the respect of all of Europe. When the players return home and look in the mirror, I think they can be proud of what they have done," said Hansi Flick in the press room at the Meazza shortly after the match. the cruel defeat against Inter. The coach appeared at the press conference with a serious demeanor and exhausted after a match in which he could barely sit down on the bench due to the intensity of the match. Aside from congratulating a group of players he has endowed with an ironclad mentality unthinkable at the beginning of the season, he wanted to emphasize the importance of the match against Real Madrid: "It's a very tough defeat. We want the Champions League and next year we'll try again, but now it's time to get up and think that, in four days, we'll face Real Madrid and we'll face Real Madrid."

Despite the nerves, Flick didn't lose his trademark elegance in the press room. It's difficult to see the German talking about the referees, but, without losing his composure, he couldn't hold his tongue. The performance of the Pole Szymon Marciniak—popularly accused of sympathizing with Real Madrid due to a series of controversial decisions—and the Dutchman Pol van Boekel, a usual suspect who already hampered the Catalans two seasons ago in the group stage at the same venue, greatly angered the coach and his team. staff.

At halftime, Flick approached Marciniak to ask for an explanation for some of the more controversial actions of the first half and for the excessive permissiveness with the harshness used by the Italian team: the possible penalty for a handball by Acerbi that was reviewed and came to nothing and the action of the penalty by Cubar stepping on Lautaro. Sins of youth.

"I'm totally against this type of penalty. And I'm totally against using slow motion to review them. At normal speed, it's a great tackle and [Cubarsí] gets to touch the ball first," he told Bein Sports Arsène Wenger, the iconic former French coach and now head of FIFA's Global Football Development division, Marciniak initially didn't whistle for a penalty, but Van Boekel invited him from the VAR room to review the action as the Meazza whistle soared through the stadium.

The second half was also not without controversy. A foul on Lamine Yamal between the box and outside was whistled as a direct free kick and not a penalty, as was a stampede on Dumfries in the box. Gerard Martín in the painful 3-3 draw in stoppage time. Aside from a series of less significant decisions, which were driving the Blaugrana team crazy, especially Pedri and Lamine Yamal. "This isn't the first time things like this have happened to us with these referees. UEFA should look into it... There are things I don't understand and that are difficult to describe. All the decisions that were 50-50 were in Inter's favor: the penalty on Lamine Yamal, which later turned out to be a foul... The second yellow card that he's forgiven..." laments the Canary Islander in a mixed zone at the Meazza where Lamine Yamal walked past, crestfallen.

Laporta rails against the referees

"I don't want to talk too much about the referees, but every dubious decision has gone to Inter, and that makes me sad," Flick said earlier. "I've already told him [referring to the referee] what I thought, but I won't repeat it," explained the coach, who wanted to end his appearance by congratulating Inter. The Italians, who had only conceded five goals in the entire Champions League, conceded six from Barça. It wasn't enough. The team has regained footballing respect in Europe. Now they also need the right referee. In an official message, Joan Laporta broke his silence after the painful European elimination: "If we're not in the final, it's basically because of refereeing decisions that hurt us. This should make us stronger."

The promise of Lamine Yamal

"We've given it our all this year, but it just wasn't to be. We'll be back, have no doubt about it, Culés. We won't stop until we're leaving this club where it deserves to be, at the top. I'll keep my promise and take it to Barcelona; we won't stop until we achieve that. But Sunday is another final and we have to all be together. Long live Barça!" he posted! As ARA explains from Milan, the coach is especially methodical in big matches, and he prepares, almost with a personal touch, for each player to prepare the tasks they'll have to perform. On Sunday, in Montjuïc, a near-definitive blow could be struck in La Liga.