"After coming on the back of a 4-0 defeat at the hands of Atletico Madrid in the Copa Del Rey, Barcelona's woes were compounded further after they lost to Girona 2-1. It was a devastating loss that saw Barça relinquish their lead to Real Madrid at the top of the league. And with back-to-back losses, the alarm bells have already started ringing at Barcelona, especially considering the kind of form they were showing since the turn of the year."
"In the wake of their defeat to Girona, one of the club captains, Raphinha, has sent a message to fans. The Brazilian started by acknowledging the problem that Barcelona are facing and called for a resolution. "Well, we have a lot of things to improve, but not just us," he wrote in an Instagram post. What followed afterwards can be viewed as a direct dig at Spanish football, having been heavily criticised for maintaining a poor quality of referees."
""It's very complicated when the rules are different depending on whether they're in your favour or against you, but if we have to play against everyone to win, no problem... We're going to do it," he added. Raphinha's message seems to suggest that there is a clear favouritism towards Real Madrid when it comes to La Liga referees and the entire ecosystem. It is an important message coming from one of the captains of one of Spain's top two biggest teams."
Barcelona suffered back-to-back defeats, losing 4-0 to Atletico Madrid in the Copa Del Rey and then 2-1 to Girona, which cost them the top spot as Real Madrid reclaimed the lead. The consecutive losses intensified concerns given Barcelona's strong form earlier in the year. Captain Raphinha posted on Instagram acknowledging problems and calling for improvements, then criticized perceived inconsistencies in refereeing. Barcelona had already filed an official complaint about refereeing standards affecting both men's and women's teams. Raphinha suggested referees sometimes apply rules differently and implied favoritism toward Real Madrid, stressing the seriousness of the issue from a team leader.
Read at Barca Universal
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