Following the refereeing controversy that erupted within FC Barcelona, Atlético de Madrid broke their silence to attack the Catalan club.

Last Thursday, FC Barcelona were thrashed 4-0 by Atlético Madrid in the first leg of their Copa del Rey semi-final . Playing with ten men after Eric Garcia's dismissal, the Blaugrana could have left the Civitad Metropolitano with a single goal, giving them an advantage in the second leg. However, Pau Cubarsí's goal was ultimately disallowed for offside. This sparked outrage from the Catalan side, who published a lengthy letter criticizing the Spanish refereeing and demanding sanctions .

also reported that Hansi Flick lost his temper after the match and went to the locker room where the referee, Martínez Munuera, was waiting to give him a dressing-down. The most important thing is to focus on what we can change. "The rest is less than rosy, but I went to speak to the referee after the press conference and the conversation was constructive. It's not his fault we lost ," the German coach admitted before the match against Girona.

Mateu Alemany attacks Barça

And with the return leg at Camp Nou scheduled for March 3rd, Atlético de Madrid has broken its silence to criticize this Catalan pressure on Spanish referees. Mateu Alemany – former sporting director of Barça and current director of football at the Madrid club – wanted to respond to his former club. “Regarding Thursday’s match, I find it curious that we’re talking about the referees. That should be the least important thing. There’s only one disputed action, namely an offside (on the goal that would have made it 4-1 in favor of Barcelona), and offsides these days are checked technologically. It’s objective and leaves no room for interpretation. If there’s an offside, there’s no such thing as a ‘near offside . ’”

“It’s either offside or not. The same thing happened to us last Sunday (against Real Betis, with a goal by Antoine Griezmann), where we were also penalized for a very slight offside. If it’s slight, it’s offside. There’s nothing more to say ,” the Atlético Madrid president told DAZN España . As a reminder, FC Barcelona filed a complaint with the RFEF (Royal Spanish Football Federation) and the CTA (Technical Committee of Referees) following the forfeited match.