The Barcelona side of recent times is considered by many as one of, if not the greatest team of all time. Four Champions League titles in between 2006 and 2015, and several other trophies to go along with it is a testament of the quality of this side. However, many of their triumphs over the years have been tainted with controversies.
A glance at some of Barcelona’s biggest games from recent years will show a lot of controversial refereeing incidents. These incidents have gained a lot of attention and could tarnish the legacy they are creating.
Many of these controversial games involving Barcelona have been in the UEFA Champions League and their recent win against Atletico Madrid was no different. Interestingly, such high profile incidents have occurred in the Champions League semi-finals of 2006, 2009 and 2011.
On all three occasions, Barcelona capitalised on the incidents that worked in their favour and then went on to lift the trophy.
Barcelona vs AC Milan, April 2006
It was the year 2006, a year during which a budding teenage sensation from Argentina was slowly making headlines while playing for Barcelona. This was a Barcelona team that danced around Ronaldinho and were playing six time Champions AC Milan in the semi-final.
The Milan side of 2006 were still hurting from the painful defeat at Istanbul a year ago and were eager to get over that disappointment.
The first leg of the tie was at the San Siro and the away team, Barcelona, took a 1-0 advantage for the decider in Nou Camp a week later. In the return leg, Milan had to score at least once to take the game to extra time.
However, they struggled to score past a resilient Barcelona defence and on the other side the Milan goalkeeper, Dida, was keeping them in the game with some vital saves.
In the 69th minute, the controversial moment of the game and the entire leg came. Shevchenko had just put the ball past Victor Valdes and Milan were about to celebrate a tie changing goal, but the German referee, Markus Merk, had other ideas and blew the whistle for a foul by Shevchenko on Puyol.
TV replays clearly showed that there was no contact by Shevchenko on Puyol and the Spanish man tumbled on his own. The decision to rule out the goal infuriated Ancelotti and the Milan bench. Shevchenko was baffled by the decision and the game eventually ended goalless, with Barcelona progressing to the final.
After the game, the Ukrainian forward rightfully claimed that he didn’t make contact with Puyol. "Perhaps he slipped and knocked into me but I had my hands up and I hit the ball cleanly," he added, "It was a perfectly legitimate goal."
As for the Catalans, they defeated Arsenal in the final and claimed their second European title.
Chelsea vs Barcelona, May 2009
Barcelona and Chelsea have locked horns in the Champions League on several occasions, but no game between these two side will ever be remembered more than this one. Sadly though, it is for the wrong reasons.
Chelsea restricted Barcelona to a goalless draw at the Nou Camp and with a win at Stamford Bridge, they had a chance to avenge their defeat against Manchester United a year ago in Moscow.
The home side were on top of Barcelona right form the offset and gave an early blow courtesy of a sensational volley from Essien in the 9th minute. What unfolded from there on was beyond believable.
The first incident occurred when Malouda made a lung-bursting run down Chelsea’s left wing with Dani Alves chasing him. Malouda made his way towards the Barcelona box, but Alves started to foul Malouda outside the box and carried it into the box.
According to the official rules, a foul that carries into the box is a penalty and Barcelona were beneficiaries of the same against Manchester City a while ago. The referee, Tom Henning Øvrebø, however, gave a free kick just outside the box.
Things were about to get worse. Frank Lampard found Drogba with a lofted pass into the box and the Ivorian was through on goal inside the box, but Abidal behind him tugged on the Chelsea striker’s kit and then clearly fouled him. Had that foul been given, then Chelsea would have won a penalty and Abidal would have been sent off for a last man tackle.
Another similar incident occurred a while later with Drogba and Yaya Toure involved, but it was least debatable compared to the first one.
A few minutes past the hour mark, the referee had another howler. This time he whistled for a foul on Anelka by Abidal and showed a straight red card to the Frenchman. Replays showed that Anelka had dived, but Anelka should have been sent off long back in the first half.
The worst decision of the match was yet to come. Towards the end of the game, Pique clearly handled Anelka’s shot inside the box, but the referee ignored yet another penalty claim from Chelsea. After the game, Pique even admitted that the ball had hit his hand.
The game went to added time of the second half and out of nowhere Iniesta scored a sensational goal and it was also Barcelona’s only shot on target in the whole game.
In the dying seconds of the game Chelsea also had a debatable handball appeal in the box turned down. The refereeing clearly agitated the Chelsea players and among those players who confronted him angrily were Drogba, Ballack and Terry.
Barcelona vs Arsenal, March 2011
Another incident from a Champions League winning season for Barcelona. This incident, unlike the others happened in the first knockout stage.
Arsenal travelled to the Nou Camp with a 2-1 win in their bag from the first leg. The home side took the lead in the dying seconds of the first half courtesy of a goal from Messi, but Arsenal equalised in the 53rd minute through a Sergio Busquets own goal.
Arsenal were in the driving seat at that point because Barcelona needed to score in order to progress. However, disaster struck the Gunners three minutes after their equaliser.
Robin van Persie, who had been booked earlier in the game for a foul on Dani Alves, was shown a second yellow for attempting a shot on target after the whistle was blown for offside. The yellow was apparently shown for time wasting and it made no sense because the Dutchman would have wasted just a few seconds with that shot.
He was clearly baffled with the decision and pleaded that he didn’t hear the whistle. He might have a case there because the referee was nowhere near the action when he blew the whistle and the game was played at Nou Camp in front of a noisy crowd.
It didn’t take Barcelona long to take advantage of their extra man and they ended up winning the game 3-1. In the process they knocked Arsenal out with controversy erupting over the red card for Van Persie.
Real Madrid vs Barcelona, April 2011
If it was Van Persie’s red card that changed the game for Barcelona in the first knockout stage, then it was a red card for Pepe that changed the balance of the semi-final.
The first leg of the tie was at the Santiago Bernabeu and Jose Mourinho’s side had set out to frustrate the visitors with some impeccable defending. Barcelona found it extremely hard to breach Real’s line of defence and on the very few occasions they managed to muster a shot on target, Casillas was up for the task.
The game was a heated one with numerous on and off the ball incidents. During the half-time break the referee was forced to dismiss Barcelona’s substitute keeper for a fracas on the touchline. The referee’s resolve on the field was broken at the hour mark when he showed a straight red to the influential Pepe!
The decision infuriated the Real Madrid players and the manager, and rightly so. Pepe was only trying to win the ball and it was not under the full control of Alves when he went for it. The referee however was conned by Alves who went down like a pack of cards under no contact.
The worst Pepe should have got for that incident was a yellow. To add to Real Madrid’s misery, Mourinho was also sent to the stands for protesting the referee’s decision.
Pepe’s red card was a game changing moment as Barcelona went on to score two vital away goals and win the game. It left Real Madrid an uphill task going into the second leg. Real had a goal from Higuain controversially ruled out in the return leg which ended in a 1-1 draw.
Barcelona vs Atletico Madrid, April 2016
The latest game on the charge sheet is Barcelona’s recent encounter against Atletico Madrid. The game was the tale of two strikers playing for opposite teams.
Atletico Madrid took the lead in the 25th minute courtesy of a wonderful finish from Fernando Torres. However, ten minutes later, the Spaniard was in the headlines for the wrong reasons.
Torres was shown a second yellow card for a mistimed tackle on Sergio Busquets. The yellow card was quite harsh considering that Busquets had lost control of the ball and Torres would have been through on goal if he won it.
If we accept the fact that Torres deserved that yellow, then another former Liverpool striker on the pitch also deserved to get sent off on the same night and that was Luis Suarez.
Suarez clearly kicked out at Juanfran in the first half of the game in anger and frustration. At this point Atletico had all their players on the pitch and were leading the game. The referee failed to spot the incident, but the cameras picked it up.
On any other day it would have been a direct red card offense, but the Uruguayan was lucky to remain on the pitch. In the second half he was shown a yellow for throwing his hand in the face of Filipe Luis. Both incidents were worthy of a direct red card, but Suarez played the full game and scored two goals to win the game for his side.
The number-advantage Barcelona had clearly played a role in their win and if Atletico had their full complement or if Barcelona were also down to 10 men, then the outcome could have been different as this Atletico Madrid side is one of best teams defensively.
What’s worse is that Suarez will not face any action for his behaviour and will play the second leg.
