Barcelona manager Hansi Flick praised his players following their elimination from the UEFA Champions League semi-final, expressing pride in their performance while sharply criticising the officiating by Polish referee Szymon Marciniak after a 4-3 defeat to Inter Milan.
It was yet another thrilling encounter between the two teams after having played out a 3-3 draw in the first leg.
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The second leg also ended with the same scoreline after 90 minutes, forcing the tie into extra time and Davide Frattesi’s goal clinched it for the Nerazzurri.
Speaking to the media, Flick said: “I’m disappointed with the result, not with the team’s performance. It is what it is, we are out, but we will try again because we want to make the fans happy, winning the Champions League was our goal and it will be again.”
“We can be proud of the players, I am. It’s part of football, winning and losing, we will all learn,” he added.
The Barcelona manager then made his first pointed comment about Marciniak’s officiating, saying:
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-“We think the result is unfair because of some refereeing decisions, I have to say that. I don’t want to talk too much about the referee, but every decision that was 50-50 ended up being in their favour, that’s what makes me sad.”
Flick unhappy with the referee after Barcelona’s UCL exit. (Photo by Fran Santiago/Getty Images)
On being probed further about the referee’s performance, Flick added: “I don’t like to talk about the referee any more, I’ve told him what I think, but I’m not going to repeat it here now, it’s not fair to my team either, who have done an enormous job.”
Flick also made sure to give credit to Inter Milan, as he said: “It’s also happened that Inter also played, they have good strikers, they defend well, with good automatisms. And we will learn, it’s a progression, we want to keep learning, but we will be back.”
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Now, attention turns to The classic with the La Liga title on the line and Flick noted: “We play to win titles and on Sunday we have a very difficult game, we have three days to prepare for it.”
Concluding, the Barcelona manager added: “Every player, when they get home at four in the morning, can be proud to look at themselves in the mirror.”
Source: Mundo Deportivo
