Great champions don’t like to lose and often don’t even know how to lose. Catalans especially. Xavi blamed referee Istvan Kovacs for Barcelona’s defeat to Paris Saint-Germain (1:4). On the other hand, Ilkay Gundogan, last season’s European champion with Manchester City, did not hesitate to face the truth and threw it in the face of everyone at the club. According to him, Barcelona can only blame itself for its Champions League elimination.Xavi is furious: I told the referee he was a disaster, that he doesn’t understand footballMainly Roland Araujo, who committed a foul resulting in a direct red card in the 29th minute, essentially condemning Barcelona to defeat.”It’s hard to say… But in those key situations, you have to be sure if you go for the ball. I wasn’t sure whether he reached it or not… But I would definitely allow a one-on-one situation, even rather conceding a goal. I mean, I don’t know if he got to the ball or not, but give your goalkeeper a chance to save that shot. Or even give them a goal. This is the Champions League. No matter who the opponent is, it’s impossible to come back with one player less. We are disappointed. Up until that red card, we had the game under control… Getting sent off at such an early stage simply kills you… We were in a good position. Not only because of the first leg, but also because we scored the first goal. Everything was in our hands, and we allowed it to slip away in the easiest way. We gifted this to Paris Saint-Germain. That’s what disappoints me the most” said the German midfielder to ESPN Sports after the match.UCL: Three red cards, Dembele and Mbappe kill Barca in shocking PSG comebackThe candid Gundogan didn’t stop there; he continued to explain to the team that it’s now wrong to seek excuses. For instance, commenting on Vitinha’s goal for the guests to make it 2-1, Gundogan said…”Another mistake. You have to go out and close him down. We shouldn’t have allowed him to shoot, and he was all alone! It’s not something we haven’t trained for. The player closest to him had to go out and close him down. It was three against three after the corner, Vitinha appears, you have to go to him. And nobody went out. And even if he did, it was too late”.Enrique: We would have won without the red card, Al Khelaifi: The best coach in the world!The only thing Gundogan criticized referee Kovacs for was the moment when he could have awarded a penalty to Barcelona when they were trailing 1-3, precisely because of a challenge on Ilkay.”I think that was a penalty. I was running, and it’s clear that the opponent blocked me. I told the referee it was a penalty, but he showed me a yellow card” he said.UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUEQuarterfinals – second legTuesdayDortmund – Atl. Madrid 4-2 (2-0)/Brandt 34, Maatsen 39, Fullkrug 71, Sabitzer 74 – Hummels 49 og, Correa 64/Dortmund win 5-4 on aggBarcelona – PSG 1-4 (1-1)/Raphinha 12 – Dembele 40, Vitinha 54, Mbappe 61 pen, 89/PSG win 6-4 on aggWednesday22:00: (2.45) Bayern (3.60) Arsenal (2.95) /first leg 2-2/22:00: (1.67) Man.City (3.80) Real Madrid (5.30) /first leg 3-3/***odds are subject to change***
