Pedri urges UEFA to investigate officiating after Barca’s UCL exit

Barcelona midfielder Pedri has called on UEFA to review the officiating in their dramatic 4-3 loss to Inter Milan in the Champions League semi-final second leg at San Siro.

Despite Raphinha seemingly securing victory for Barcelona with an 87th-minute goal, Inter struck back through Francesco Acerbi’s late equaliser before Davide Frattesi sealed the win in extra time, sending the Italian side through 7-6 on aggregate.

“It’s not the first time this happens to us with this referee, UEFA should look into it,” Pedri told reporters after the final whistle.

“Every 50-50 for them … There are things that I don’t understand and which are hard to explain,” he added, expressing frustration with the match’s officiating.

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When asked to elaborate, Pedri pointed to a controversial moment involving teammate Lamine Yamal: “In the penalty on Lamine, which was after given as a free kick, there’s no booking for [Henrikh] Mkhitaryan, which would have been his second booking.”

The match was officiated by Polish referee Szymon Marciniak, who also refereed the 2022 World Cup final. Notably, Marciniak was in charge of another controversial clash between Barcelona and Inter in 2022, which ended in a 3-3 draw and contributed to Barça’s group-stage elimination that year.