King's Cup: Refereeing in Atlético vs Barça sparks controversy in Spain

Madrid – The refereeing performance of Juan Martínez Munuera in Thursday night’s King’s Cup quarter-final between Atlético Madrid and FC Barcelona has ignited a firestorm of debate across Spain, with the Catalan giants weighing an official protest to the Royal Spanish Football Federation.

Atlético coasted to a 4-0 victory at the Metropolitano, yet the final score has been overshadowed by a series of contentious decisions that left Barça officials fuming. Coach Hansi Flick, speaking moments after the final whistle, zeroed in on an early incident in which Giuliano Simeone escaped a caution for a heavy challenge on left-back Alejandro Balde. “It set the tone,” Flick said, arguing that a booking would have curbed Atlético’s physical approach.

The flash-point arrived in the second half when Pau Cubarsí appeared to have pulled a goal back for Barça, only for the strike to be chalked off following a protracted VAR intervention that lasted nearly seven minutes. The Technical Committee of Referees later attributed the delay to a digital “skeleton” detection malfunction, forcing the VAR team to trace offside lines manually. Critics have dismissed the explanation as ad-hoc and insufficient for a fixture of such magnitude.

With emotions still raw, club officials convened late into the night. According to Mundo Deportivo, Barça are now preparing a formal complaint to the RFEF, seeking accountability for what they deem a series of game-altering oversights. The fallout ensures that the spotlight will remain fixed not on Atlético’s clinical display, but on the standards and technology underpinning Spanish refereeing.