JAKARTA - Raphinha was angry because Barcelona was "robbed" after watching his teammates eliminated from the Champions League by Atletico Madrid on Wednesday, April 15, 2026, early morning WIB.
The Brazilian missed the match with an injury, but travelled to Madrid to watch Barcelona knocked out of the quarter-finals on aggregate 2-3 despite winning 2-1 on the night at the Metropolitano.
Early goals from Lamine Yamal and Ferran Torres had Barcelona level, but Ademola Lookman's goal ensured Atletico Madrid progressed to the semi-final against Arsenal.
The Blaugrana's hopes of forcing extra time were dashed late in the game when Eric García was sent off for a late foul on Alexander Sorloth, leaving Raphinha furious with the referee.
"This match was really robbed. The referee had a lot of problems. Some of the decisions he made were really amazing."
"I don't know how many fouls Atletico Madrid committed and he didn't give them a yellow card," Raphinha said.
Barcelona had appealed for a penalty when Dani Olmo was fouled in the first half, but Raphinha did not mention any specific decision.
It marked the second consecutive match in which the Blaugrana were angry at the referee in the Champions League, with the club lodging a formal complaint with UEFA over the failure to award a penalty and send off Marc Pubill in the first leg at Camp Nou.
UEFA ruled that the protest was inadmissible.
"It's human to make one mistake, but if it happens again in another game? We played very well, but this game was snatched from us."
"It's difficult, especially when we see that we need to put in three times the effort to win the game. I really want to understand why (the referee) is so afraid of Barcelona getting through this game," Raphinha said.
After losing 0-2 in the first leg at Camp Nou last week, Barcelona tried to quickly turn things around at the Metropolitano.
Despite ending the game with more shots on target (15 to eight) and higher goal expectancy (3.38 to 2.08) than Atletico Madrid, they were eliminated from the Champions League.
Manager Hansi Flick also spoke up and claimed that his troops deserved to qualify.
"We played a fantastic first half tonight. We should have scored more goals. Of course it's possible (to score more goals)."
"If you look at both matches, we deserved to be in the semi-finals. However, we have to accept it. The mentality, the attitude shown by the players on the pitch, I am proud of that," said Flick in a press conference after the match.
Barcelona were also knocked out of the Copa del Rey by Atletico Madrid last month, but their season is not over. They won the Spanish Super Cup (Supercopa de Espana) in January 2026 and are nine points clear at the top of the LaLiga standings with seven games remaining.
"The next step is to win LaLiga. We are on the way. It's not over. We still have games. We have to do this today."
"Of course we are disappointed at the moment. That's normal. Winning the Champions League is a big dream. We have to learn about the things we need to improve, but we have a young team and they can and will improve next season."
"I know this is disappointing for everyone. I'm disappointed too. This is football, this is life. We have to get back up," said Flick.
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