MADRID — Diego Simeone criticised the controversial choice to overturn Gerard Martín‘s crimson card throughout Atlético Madrid‘s 2-1 defeat to Barcelona on Saturday.
Giuliano Simeone put Atletico forward within the first half on the Metropolitano, earlier than Marcus Rashford levelled, after which Robert Lewandowski scored an 87th-minute winner to increase Barça’s lead on the prime of the LaLiga desk.
Atlético performed 45 minutes with 10 males after Nico González‘s sending off, however Barça have been spared a crimson card of their very own early within the second interval when Martin was dismissed for a forceful problem on Thiago Almada, just for a VAR assessment to downgrade the defender’s punishment to a yellow card.
“There is not a lot to say. The motion is obvious,” coach Simeone mentioned in his post-match information convention. “He [Martin] arrives late, and treads on [Almada].
“I noticed the [similar incident] from Betis-Rayo [on Feb. 21] and the [referees’ committee] CTA mentioned it was a crimson card … Let’s hope the CTA comes out in midweek and clarifies it for subsequent week. They made a mistake, like we coaches do.”
“For everybody who understands soccer, it is a crimson card,” defender Robin Le Normand mentioned. “I do not know what occurred. [The referee] made the fitting choice, then they reviewed it.
“Everybody could make errors, however I feel at present they made a mistake. Immediately they have been massive particulars which affected the sport.”
Barcelona’s win adopted rivals Actual Madrid‘s 2-1 defeat at Actual Mallorca earlier on Saturday, that means Barça now have a seven-point lead on the prime.
Atlético now journey to Barcelona on Wednesday, because the groups meet once more of their Champions League quarterfinal first leg, in a sequence of three conferences in 10 days.
Simeone rested a lot of key gamers for Saturday’s recreation together with Julián Álvarez and Ademola Lookman.
“We had an excellent first half, with probabilities on either side, the workforce taking part in effectively,” Simeone mentioned. “The sending off [of Nico González] was a sending off. There are some sendings off that are sendings off.
“Within the second half, it was a distinct recreation. We could not assault as we might have favored. The [Lewandowski] objective got here on the finish, with a rebound, after we might have gotten a draw.”
“We performed an amazing recreation within the first half,” goalkeeper Juan Musso mentioned. “The crimson card harm us. It is troublesome to play with one participant fewer. I feel [Martin’s] was a crimson … 11 versus 11, we have been higher, I feel.”
