Barcelona concerned about UEFA’s decision regarding the second leg against Inter Milan
Barça already has its sights set on the second leg of the Champions League semi-finals to be played next Tuesday at the Giuseppe Meazza stadium. Although they will first have to visit José Zorrilla to face Valladolid in the match that will be part of the 34th round of LaLiga EA Sports, all the efforts of Hansi Flick ‘s team are focused on the final in Milan.
A life-and-death match that will most likely be decided by small details, as has already been demonstrated in the vibrant draw of the first leg played at Montjuïc (3-3).
Hansi Flick will try to recover both Alejandro Balde and Robert Lewandowski for the match , two players who could be decisive. However, Barça may have some concerns about the refereeing appointment for this match.
According to Polish media outlet Meczyki , the controversial referee Marciniak is the favourite to take charge of the match at Giuseppe Meazza. He is the same referee who disallowed Julián Álvarez’s goal in the penalty shootout against Real Madrid that caused such a stir.
🚨Z tego co słyszę, Szymon Marciniak ma sędziować półfinałowy rewanż Ligi Mistrzów: Inter Mediolan – FC Barcelona:
— Tomasz Włodarczyk (@wlodar85) May 1, 2025
▶️ https://t.co/XPvAazQJtx pic.twitter.com/C0uvfiRqah
Barça still have no record of this information, as revealed by the newspaper SPORT. However, concerns have already begun to arise, especially among the Barça fans. The official designation from UEFA will be known next Sunday , two days before the second leg of the semi-finals.
it should be noted that Marciniak is one of the referees with the highest reputation for the highest body in European football, but at the same time he has a suspicious history, which has benefited Real Madrid on repeated occasions.
Because apart from the aforementioned controversial penalty that annulled Julián Álvarez for a double touch, which has gone around the world, Marciniak was also the referee who the previous season invalidated De Ligt’s legal goal with Bayern against Real Madrid that would have equalized the tie just in the final minutes.
n addition, Marciniak was also chased in the lead-up to a Champions League match with a Real Madrid case, an image that went viral. If we look at Barça’s results with him as referee, they are not good either: two defeats, two draws and a single victory.
In fact, the Pole has already directed a Barça – Inter, the 3-3 in the group stage of the 2022 Champions League, which left the Barça in the Europa League. And the two defeats are two thrashings, the 3-0 at Juventus in 2017 and the 4-0 against PSG that same year. So, there are reasons for concern, but Flick’s Barça must be able to turn all these situations around.
Source: El Nacional
