Dutch legend tears into referee for crucial errors in Inter 4-3 Barcelona – ‘It wasn’t a penalty’ | OneFootball

Barcelona’s hopes of securing a treble this season were squashed as the club narrowly missed out on a place in the UEFA Champions League final.

The Catalans lost the second-leg semifinal tie to Inter Milan 3-4, which took the aggregate score to 6-7.

However, Barcelona could have easily qualified for the final had it not been for some controversial refereeing, particularly when it came to Inter Milan’s second goal, which was scored through a penalty won by Lautaro Martinez.

The Argentine was stopped on his track by Pau Cubarsi. But after a closer VAR check, the referee decided to award a penalty to Inter Milan adjudging that the Barcelona youngster had not made contact with the ball.

Ruud Gullit tears into the referee

The referee’s call left many in the footballing world unhappy, including Dutch footballing legend Ruud Gullit.

In a recent interaction, Gullit explained how Barcelona were robbed by the refereeing mistake and how the tackle on Lautaro was never a penalty. He also suggested that Inter Milan’s third goal should not have been allowed either.

“It wasn’t a penalty by Cubarsi, and the third goal should never have been allowed because it should have been disallowed. There was a prior foul,” he told BeIN (h/t SPORT).

Not a penalty according to Gullit. (Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images)

Gullit, who won two Champions League titles during his expansive career, went on to explain the semantics of the third goal from Inter Milan.

“Dumfries is ready in this play because of the way he puts his body in, but it’s a foul because he hampers the Barça player before taking the ball,” he said.

Gullit went on to admit that Barcelona deserved to go through to the final of the Champions League due to their superb performance on the night.

“Honestly, I think they won the hearts of the fans. Because of the way they play and the way they attack. They’re a great team and clearly deserved much more in the tie, both in the first leg and the second leg,” he concluded.

Gullit is not the first one and he certainly won’t be the last one to raise his voice against the refereeing performance on the night.

Unfortunately, there is not much Barcelona can do apart from focusing on their La Liga campaign as we head towards the final stretch of the season.