Pau Cubarsi red card vs. Atletico Madrid, explained: Why Barcelona defender was sent off after VAR review originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Barcelona‘s Champions League quarterfinal first leg on Wednesday was the second of three games they have with Atletico Madrid in early April.
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The Catalans won 2-1 in La Liga last weekend and now face Diego Simeone’s side, who eliminated them from the Copa del Rey this season, in a two-legged European matchup.
The first leg at Camp Nou swung the way of Atletico in the first half when Pau Cubarsi was shown a straight red card for a foul on Giuliano Simeone.
Referee Istvan Kovacs initially showed a yellow card but upgraded it to a red after a VAR review.
MORE:Full commentary and highlights from Barcelona vs. Atletico Madrid
Pau Cubarsi red card vs. Atletico Madrid, explained
In the 41st minute of the game, Cubarsi was penalised for a foul on Simeone around 25 yards from the Barcelona goal.
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Julian Alvarez played a terrific pass in behind the Barca defence and, as Simeone ran onto the ball, Cubarsi collided with his rear leg and sent him sprawling to the turf.
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Referee Kovacs awarded a free-kick and issued a yellow card to Cubarsi, but after VAR looked back at the incident, they recommended an on-field review from the match official. Kovacs watched the footage carefully before deciding that Cubarsi’s punishment should be upgraded to a red card.
As Cubarsi was the last covering defender, and Simeone would have been clean through on goal — through the centre of the box — if he had not been prevented from getting to the ball, the referee and VAR appeared in agreement that Cubarsi’s foul constituted the denial of a clear goal-scoring opportunity.
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To make matters worse for Barca, Alvarez then scored directly from the free-kick.
Who is the referee and VAR for Barcelona vs. Atletico Madrid?
The referee for the game at Camp Nou is Istvan Kovacs, a 41-year-old match official from Romania who has been part of UEFA’s elite pool since 2019.
He was the man in charge for last season’s Champions League final between Paris Saint-Germain and Inter Milan, which the French side won 5-0. A year earlier, he officiated the Europa League final in Dublin in which Atalanta beat Bayer Leverkusen, and he was selected for the Euro 2024 tournament, where he showed a record 16 yellow cards and two reds in a group game between Czechia and Turkey.
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The video assistant referee is Germany’s Christian Dingert, who has worked as an official in German football for nearly 25 years.