Barcelona's Flick's complaint reminiscent of Super Eagles' in Nigeria vs Morocco

Barcelona’s head coach, Hansi Flick, has slammed the refereeing from the Copa del Rey clash against Atletico Madrid, accusing the official of creating a game dynamic which favoured Rojiblancos' playstyle.

The Blaugrana were romped by Atletico Madrid 4-0 at Wanda Metropolitano thanks to an excellent tactical plan from Diego Simeone, which featured an aggressive press and an excellent ploy to exploit Barcelona’s highline. However, Flick believes the refereeing was also a factor.

Speaking after the game, Flick, reeling from the defeat, decried the refereeing, specifically citing the officials' leniency which allowed the Madrid-based side to be overly aggressive.

"The referee INVITED Atletico to play like this. He was not giving them yellow cards for kicking them around,” Flick lamented. "We start since the very first action of the game. ZERO consequences for them. This is so bad here; the refereeing is SO BAD here!"

Barcelona’s complaint from the game also included Eric Garcia’s sending off, a possible red card which Pablo Barrios avoided, and Pau Cubarsi’s goal, which was disallowed for offside after an abnormally long VAR check.

While Hansi Flick’s criticism of the referee might be viewed as an untenable cop-out by most of the footballing world, especially as his tactics were a bigger culprit for their failure on the night, fans of the Super Eagles might be empathetic, as his complaint is reminiscent of the officiating bias they experienced in the AFCON semi-final against the hosts.

The Super Eagles were knocked out on penalties against Morocco after a goalless draw. Eric Chelle’s side were uncharacteristically dull offensively, despite having entered the game as the most devastating team in the competition. 

Many fans and analysts blamed Ghanaian official Daniel Laryea’s leniency on Moroccan aggression and keenness to stop play when the reverse was the case for creating a playing atmosphere which helped the Atlas Lions’ playstyle thrive.