Barcelona Continue Champions League Conspiracy Claims | OneFootball

Barcelona midfielder Gavi has conjured up a bizarre new conspiracy theory after Tuesday's controversial Champions League semifinal second leg defeat to Inter.

After an enthralling first duel in Catalonia last week, the two European giants staged another classic at San Siro. Inter found themselves two goals ahead at half-time but Barcelona completed an astonishing comeback in the 87th minute as Raphinha added to goals from Eric García and Dani Olmo.

La Blaugrana were seconds away from booking their ticket to the Champions League final but 37-year-old Francesco Acerbi had other ideas as he equalised in stoppage-time, with Davide Frattesi delivering the fatal blow for Barcelona in extra-time as his curled effort secured an incredible 7–6 aggregate victory for the Nerazzurri.

However, Barcelona were quick to point their post-match frustrations at referee Szymon Marciniak and his team. The Catalans believed that the first-half penalty awarded for Pau Cubarsí's lunge and converted by Hakan Çalhanoğlu was an unjust decision, while they also wanted Henrikh Mkhitaryan to receive a second yellow card for a foul on Lamine Yamal just outside the penalty area.

Barcelona felt hard done by in Milan / IMAGO/IPA Sport

Manager Hansi Flick and midfielder Pedri were among those outraged by the decisions made by Marciniak and VAR, with Gavi having now posted a fresh conspiracy regarding Barcelona's semifinal exit on social media.

“It's very hard, and even more so when you know how close we were, culers [Barcelona fans],” the 20-year-old wrote on Instagram. “They didn't want us to reach the final because they were afraid of the season we're having.”

While Gavi doesn't specifically name the match officials, it can be inferred that the ‘they’ he refers to in his post is Marciniak's team. He's not the only one to have called them out either, with Barcelona president Joan Laporta slamming the officials in a video posted on the club's official X account.

“We all have to get them back into the right frame of mind to win the league. [Tuesday] wasn't possible. We fought to reach the final in Munich, but it wasn't possible because of refereeing decisions that went against us,” claimed Laporta.

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