Inter Milan reached the Champions League final after a thrilling 4-3 victory over their Spanish visitors, Barcelona, in a fiery comeback on Tuesday evening.
The Italian side secured their place in the Munich final, awaiting the winner on aggregate between Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain.
According to the Spanish newspaper El Nacional, German coach Hansi Flick expressed his deep anger at the referee’s performance during the match, holding Polish referee Szymon Marciniak responsible for Barcelona’s defeat and elimination from the Champions League.
Flick believes that the Polish referee denied Barcelona two penalty kicks and failed to call a foul on an Inter player in the build-up to the Italian team’s last-minute equalizer.
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The newspaper added that Flick did not stop there, launching an unprecedented attack on Barcelona duo Pau Cubarsí and Gerard Martín, who, according to him, contributed to Inter’s qualification after Barça’s comeback.
Cubarsí had one of his worst performances with Barcelona, conceding a penalty that led to Inter’s second goal, while Gerard Martín was responsible for two of the goals scored by the Italian side against Marc-André ter Stegen.
The report went on to say that Flick reprimanded team star Ronald Araújo for his disastrous performance, which contributed to Barcelona’s elimination from the Champions League.
He failed to mark Inter defender Francesco Acerbi, who scored the equalizer in the dying seconds, sending the match into extra time.
Flick reportedly decided that Araújo should not remain at Barcelona a minute longer, and asked club president Joan Laporta to offload him in the upcoming summer transfer window.
However, Flick did not stop there; he went on to console Barcelona duo Pedri and Lamine Yamal, who put in a tremendous effort until the final seconds of the match.
Unfortunately, their efforts were undone by their teammates’ childish mistakes and the complete absence of Raphinha, who only appeared during the sequence leading to Barcelona’s third goal.
In an unexpected development, Barcelona president Joan Laporta entered the team’s dressing room and offered support to the players after their emotional breakdown following the club’s crushing Champions League exit.
Laporta reportedly believes that the primary responsibility for the team’s elimination lies with Uruguayan star Ronald Araújo, who failed to learn from past mistakes—and told him directly to look for a new club at the end of the season.
