Eric Garcia, immediately after Barça’s Champions League exit, harshly criticised the refereeing of Szymon Marciniak. The ‘Cules’ defender recalled the Polish referee’s controversial decisions in another duel between the two teams in the 2022-23 edition.
Barca came within a whisker of reaching the final 10 years later. The Catalan team lost in extra time against Inter (4-3, 7-6 on aggregate), in a crazy match that Frattesi settled and which was not lacking in controversy due to Szymon Marciniak’s refereeing.
In fact, Eric Garcia, already in front of the microphones of ‘Movistar Liga de Campeones’, hit out at the referee and did so recalling the work of the Polish referee in another Inter-Barca, that of the group stage of the 2022-23 edition.
“We all know what happened with this referee the last time we came here. We have to be proud of the fans and the players. Many didn’t have confidence in us, they said it was a year of transition and look what we have created. We still have La Liga ahead,” said the ‘Cules’ defender.
“I think football has been very cruel to us. We started again having them 2-0 ahead. The character of this team is unbelievable. I don’t know what’s wrong with this stadium. I’ve been here three times and, for A or B or for other people’s reasons, it hasn’t worked out for us,” he added.
Finally, Eric Garcia mentioned those mistakes that condemned the team. “Football is about punctual mistakes. In the second half we were far better. We showed the team we are. In extra time they defended very well and it was already complicated. I don’t think it will have an influence on Sunday. We exceeded expectations. The team came out stronger, even if it wasn’t possible,” he concluded.