Joan Laporta joins UEFA ref critics to rally Barcelona for El Clasico

Joan Laporta has joined the Barcelona chorus of UEFA critics after their Champions League semi final defeat at Inter Milan.

The Catalans surrendered fought back from two goals down, but Simone Inzaghi’s side then dragged themselves back into the contest, to eventually force extra time.

Barcelona were left enraged by a host of decisions made by match referee Szymon Marciniak who was the focus of major criticism at full time.

Hansi Flick led the Barcelona annoyance in his post-match press conference but the German coach opted against details of his conversation with Marciniak.

“I think about it, about the refereeing decisions but I don’t want to talk too much about it. It’s not fair to my team, who did a huge job. I don’t like to talk about the referee. I’ve told him what I think but I’m not going to say it here,” he said after the San Siro showdown.

A succession of Barcelona stars have also also called out Marchniak including midfielder Pedri who claimed this is latest poor game officiating Barcelona.

“This isn’t the first time this has happened to us with this referee. UEFA should look into it. There are things I don’t understand and they are complicated,” he said.

“For me, the penalty call on Lamine Yamal, he has to send off Mkhitaryan, who already had a yellow card. But there are a lot of decisions.”

Barcelona’s main grievance focused on a perceived foul on Gerard Martin by Denzel Dumfries in the build  up to Inter Milan’s equaliser which secured an extra 30 minutes.

Laporta took a side swipe at Marciniak but claimed the incoming El Clasico showdown with Rael Madrid on May 11 must now take priority.

“We fought to reach the final in Munich, but it was largely due to refereeing decisions that went against us,” as per quotes from Mundo Deportivo.

“We all must now work together to get the team back into the right frame of mind to win La Liga.”