Hansi Flick takes aim at referee after Barcelona's UCL elimination
Barcelona head coach Hansi Flick has made clear his feelings with referee Szymon Marciniak, on the back of his side's exit from the Champions League.
Barcelona were of course back in action on Tuesday evening.
Advertisement
With a spot in the finale of the Champions League on the line, the Blaugrana made the trip to Italy, for a semi-final 2nd-leg showdown with Inter Milan.
When all was said and done in a pulsating affair, however, the evening's visitors saw their efforts come up short.
This came after a late Francesco Acerbi strike sent proceedings to extra-time, allowing Davide Frattesi to notch the decisive goal in a seven-goal thriller.
Post-match, on the Barcelona side of things, much of the focus has been on the officiating, amid anger on the part of the Blaugrana's supporters with the job done by referee Szymon Marciniak at San Siro.
Advertisement
And as alluded to above, joining such fans in making his disappointment with the level of officiating on show in Milan clear was none other than Hansi Flick.
Speaking to the media on the back of the full-time whistle on Tuesday, Barca's headmaster vented:
'Every 50/50 decision that the ref had, he called it in Inter's favor. This makes me sad.'
Conor Laird – GSFN
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


New York Times
36 minutes ago
- New York Times
Prime Tire: The other sad F1 race clash. Plus, McLaren struggles early in Canada
Prime Tire Newsletter | This is The Athletic's twice-weekly F1 newsletter. Sign up here to receive Prime Tire directly in your inbox on Tuesday and Friday. Welcome back to Prime Tire, where the 2025 Canadian Grand Prix is getting underway on the same weekend as another major motorsport race. In the week when it was confirmed the 2026 Montreal race will clash directly with the 110th Indianapolis 500, which caused consternation for many motorsport followers, the 93rd Le Mans 24 Hours is also taking place. And next year, this famous race will now run on the same weekend as what could be Formula 1's final visit to Barcelona. I'm Alex, and Luke Smith will be along later, but here's what fans are missing in motorsport's other frustrating major race clash. McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown once told me that if he was being 'really greedy', he'd love for his orange teams to win F1's Monaco Grand Prix, the Indy 500 and Le Mans all in one year. Well, today that dream took a step closer to becoming reality when it was announced how McLaren's 2027 World Endurance Championship entry will work. Advertisement The Hypercar squad is going to be run by current Jaguar Formula E team boss James Barclay — a big motorsport fan in his own right and a historics racer to boot. He'd surely love to field either of Oscar Piastri or Lando Norris in McLaren's first Hypercar Le Mans appearance. But even for motorsport dreamers such as I, Nico Hulkenberg — who famously won Le Mans for Porsche while employed full-time in F1 back in 2015 — reckons the expanded F1 calendar makes this too tough an ask these days. No matter the glorious spread of good-looking cars, an iconic track and the emotion-sapping nature of a 24-hour race. 'Everyone was a lot less busy (in 2015),' the Sauber driver recently told Reuters. '24 races, all the stuff in between, it's a full-time job. I can only talk for myself but, personally, I wouldn't want the extra gig at the moment.' Fernando Alonso is the most recent full-time F1 driver to win Le Mans — in 2018 with Toyota. But more of the current crop want to follow in his footsteps than have a crack at Indy, which Alonso has also tried (and failed, three times) to win. Charles Leclerc wants to race at Le Mans with his brother Arthur, while Max Verstappen is committed to one day entering the race with his father. Ferrari goes into this weekend's race hoping for a third successive Le Mans win since its return to top-flight sportscar racing in 2023, but it's never going to sanction its long-term F1 star moonlighting in another category. Red Bull even once stopped Verstappen demonstrating an F1 car on the Nurburgring Nordschleife because it didn't want him pushing the limits on that fearsome track… Events directly clashing make dreams of F1 superstars racing elsewhere relentlessly impossible. The hyper-professional modern era means it's a contractual nightmare too. But that doesn't make such wishes any less valid. Advertisement F1 is celebrating the 75th anniversary of the formation of the world championship this year and not only were the drivers of yesteryear regular Le Mans entrants and winners, but for 11 years, the Indy 500 was itself on the F1 calendar. Far too quickly, such history is ignored and success in different categories is a brilliant way to demonstrate driving desire and racing versatility. Now, the annual bumper Le Mans and Indy crowds demonstrate the health of these races alongside F1's current might even with these clashes. That is excellent and this isn't an attempt to pit one series against another. As Jeff Gluck sagely noted, that's just a weird thing to do when you love racing cars. But one day again having F1 drivers — many endlessly sim racing anyway away from F1 events — blasting down the Mulsanne straight with the sun setting is still a thought worth savouring. And if in the coming years F1 and Le Mans can be prised apart, Verstappen, sorry, Franz Hermann, with his sportscar team already operational, would be my bet for the next grand prix star taking up the endurance racing challenge. Now, speaking of Max… There was always going to be a big crowd for Max Verstappen's media call yesterday in Montreal. It was the first time he'd spoken since the clash with George Russell in Spain that put him on the brink of a race ban. The obvious question was: would that change anything? It was so packed in Red Bull's hospitality unit that even for Yuki Tsunoda's prior media session, it quickly became standing room only. Once Tsunoda was done, Verstappen took his teammate's seat — and showed zero sign of any mentality shift. The first thing he mentioned as being different for this week was jet lag, not the fact that even a minor infraction between now and the Austrian Grand Prix later in June could lead to him being benched for a race. He just didn't have a lot to say about the possibility of such a ban, dodging a question about the merits of the penalty point system and then deadpanning it would be 'not ideal' if he were to be temporarily sidelined. Advertisement The clear message, both through Verstappen's words and his body language, is that he won't be changing. Yes, there was an acceptance that what happened in Spain wasn't right, as detailed in his social media post in the aftermath of that controversy. But the message was very much that he'll still be racing hard. And it's not like there's even a lot to lose if he were to miss a race, given his own bleak outlook for the 2025 championship given McLaren's advantage. It was all very predictable. As I wrote after Spain, Max will never change. It's got him this far. Don't expect the potential ban to be anything like enough of a deterrent for his uncompromising approach. But did we really expect anything different? Last week, I interviewed former Haas F1 team boss Guenther Steiner in The Athletic's London office. No-nonsense as ever — and without a single swear word — we caught up on what he's up to these days, 18 months after he left what will soon be one of two American squads on the grid. The standout newsline was that he could soon appear more frequently in yet another motorsport sphere. If negotiations with the Tech3 MotoGP team come to fruition on Steiner's investment offer, he could end up being team CEO. This could even end up being a full takeover of the team currently tied to the financially embattled KTM marque. But, Steiner being Steiner, the conversation was varied. Here's some highlights: Here are the main takeaways from today's on-track action in Canada: We're not running an F1 liveblog for this race weekend, but stay tuned when the action resumes at the always exciting Austrian round at the end of June. 💃 The controversial F175 season-opening show seems destined not to be repeated in 2026, according to this report. 💥 It's missing Kevin Magnussen's massive qualifying crash for Haas in 2019, but this rundown of famous shunts into Canada's Wall of Champions is always worth watching when F1 is in Montreal. Magnussen, racing for BMW at Le Mans this weekend, qualifies for that famous list as a Formula Renault 3.5 champion from 2013… 🇨🇦 What to know more about the groundhogs that usually appear during the Canadian GP weekend? Look no further than this comprehensive explanation from your Tuesday PT host Patrick Iversen. 📫 Love Prime Tire? Check out The Athletic's other newsletters.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Ex-Juventus star Pogba in Monaco talks, Walker towards Fenerbahce after Milan
Former Juventus midfielder Paul Pogba is in advanced negotiations to join AS Monaco, while Kyle Walker could go from Milan to Fenerbahce. The transfer market does not officially open for teams outside the Club World Cup until July 1, but that does not apply to free agents. Advertisement Pogba is now able to resume his playing career after a ban for failing a doping test while he was at Juventus in September 2023. He terminated his contract with the club by mutual consent and is now seeking his next adventure. Pogba looking to Ligue 1 Juventus FC head coach Massimiliano Allegri and Paul Pogba celebrate with the trophy after winning the TIM Cup final match against SS Lazio at Olimpico Stadium on May 20, 2015 in Rome, Italy. (Photo by) According to Sky Sport Italia transfer pundit Gianluca Di Marzio, talks with AS Monaco are progressing well, though it remains to be seen if this is the destination that the France international will accept. He hardly ever played in France, leaving Le Havre for the Manchester United youth academy in 2009 and then joining Juventus for free in 2012. MILAN, ITALY – FEBRUARY 05: Kyle Walker of AC Milan acknowledges the fans following the Coppa Italia Quarter Final match between AC Milan and AS Roma at Stadio Giuseppe Meazza on February 05, 2025 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by) Meanwhile, another former Serie A player is on the move again, as Milan did not try to purchase Walker outright from Manchester City following a six-month loan. Advertisement Now reports in Turkey suggest he is in negotiations with Fenerbahce and has asked for a two-year contract to work with Jose Mourinho. The 35-year-old right-back made 16 competitive appearances for the Rossoneri this season.
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
David Beckham ‘immensely proud' of knighthood in King's Birthday Honours
Former England captain David Beckham said he is 'immensely proud' to have been given a knighthood in the King's Birthday Honours. The sports star, who celebrated his 50th birthday last month, is being honoured for services to sport and charity. Sir David said in a statement to the PA news agency: 'Growing up in East London with parents and grandparents who were so patriotic and proud to be British I never could have imagined I would receive such a truly humbling honour. 'To have played for and captained my country was the greatest privilege of my career and literally a boyhood dream come true. 'Off the pitch I have been fortunate to have the opportunity to represent Britain around the world and work with incredible organisations that are supporting communities in need and inspiring the next generation. 'I'm so lucky to be able to do the work that I do and I'm grateful to be recognised for work that gives me so much fulfilment. It will take a little while for the news to sink in but I'm immensely proud and it's such an emotional moment for me to share with my family.' Sir David married his wife Victoria in 1999 and the couple share four children together – Brooklyn, Romeo, Cruz and Harper. He had been set on becoming a professional footballer as a child and as a teenager he joined Manchester United as a trainee, forming part of the class of '92 that won the FA Youth Cup, along with Ryan Giggs and Gary Neville. The sports star from north east London made his Premier League debut for United in 1995 and was part of the team that earned a dramatic Champions League final victory in 1999 when they beat Bayern Munich with two late goals. In total he scored 85 goals and collected honours including six Premier League titles and two FA Cups as a footballer, before retiring from the sport in 2013. Alongside his football career Sir David has supported a number of charity causes and launched a fundraising appeal for Unicef in April ahead of his milestone 50th birthday. He has served as a Goodwill Ambassador for humanitarian aid organisation Unicef since 2005 and is a founding member of the charity Malaria No More UK's leadership council. Last year the former sports star, who has described himself as a 'huge Royalist', was named an ambassador for the King's Foundation, an educational charity established by the King in 1990. In February Sir David appeared in a video helping to launch the hunt for '35 under 35', a network of influencers who can fly the flag for the charity which reflects Charles' vision. He is also known for his stylish clothing choices, and in 1998 was named most stylish man of the year by GQ magazine and he has modelled for the likes of H&M, Armani and Boss. In 2018 he was appointed Ambassadorial President of the British Fashion Council where he assisted the BFC in its search for young British talent from all backgrounds. His wife, Victoria, turned her hand to fashion designing after her time in the Spice Girls and Sir David and their four children are often spotted at her shows. Sir David is currently a part-owner of MLS side Inter Miami, and is also the co-founder of Studio 99, the production company behind the hit Netflix series Beckham. He was formerly appointed an officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2003.