Eric Garcia was sent off late on in Barcelona’s 4-0 defeat to Atletico
in the Copa del Rey to complete a miserable night for the Catalan giants.The defender was handed his marching orders in the 85th minute for a rash challenge but it wasn’t the only decision that deserves scrutiny.
Diego Simeone’s son Giuliano Simeone escaped a yellow card for crunching Alejandro Balde in the opening minutes and was then finally booked for another poor challenge on the left-back in the second half.
Here’s what Eric
made of it all:
“Did you see Giuliano’s tackle? And you think it was a red card? These decisions have been going against us lately,” he told the media.
“I was unlucky enough to slip and hit him. We know it’s going to be tough and they’re not going to make it easy for us. Playing at home with our fans, we can win.”
Garcia also spoke about the game itself and made it clear Barca had not been good enough but hasn’t given up hope of turning the tie around.
“The first half was tough for us. Obviously, the first goal was an incredible misfortune. After that, they came out more focused, with more attitude… against a rival like Atlético, it’s difficult with this advantage,” he added.
“There’s a game left at home, with our fans and with players we’ll have back. If we’re focused from the start, we can turn this around.”
“I’m not going to lie to you. They were getting into our area very easily. There were a lot of spaces. In the second half we adjusted and changed things.
“We had scored a goal… we all have questions. I saw an image, I haven’t quite figured out the frame yet, but we’re not going to use that as an excuse. At halftime, Flick told us it was a new game and we had to try to win the second half.”
The two teams meet again at Camp Nou in March.
