Barcelona's Xavi criticized referee Istvan Kovacs as a 'catastrophe' following their loss to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League.
Despite winning 3-2 in the first leg of the quarter-final, Barcelona were expected to progress to the semi-finals. The second leg began positively for Barcelona as Raphinha scored to give them a 1-0 lead.
Ronald Araujo received a red card for Barcelona after 29 minutes for fouling Bradley Barcola near the box as the last defender. Despite Barcelona's argument that the contact was minimal and Pau Cubarsi was providing cover, the red card was upheld following a VAR review.
During the second half, Joao Cancelo gave away a penalty for a late tackle on Ousmane Dembele, while Ilkay Gundogan's appeal for a penalty after being challenged by Vitinha was rejected.
Xavi and the goalkeeping coach, Jose Ramon de la Fuente, were both shown red cards for their persistent and heated protests on the sidelines. Following the match, the Barcelona manager expressed his anger towards the referee during the press conference.
Xavi expressed his frustration, highlighting the impact of the red card on the tie. According to him, the team was well organized with 11 players, but everything changed after the sending off. He criticized the referee, describing his performance as disastrous and stating that it ruined the match.
Xavi admitted his own mistake in receiving a red card for dissent but emphasized that it was unfortunate for the entire season's hard work to be overshadowed by one refereeing decision.
He wished the game could have remained 11 vs 11 throughout and considered the red card unnecessary.
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