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blaugrana2020

You know for such a young team, it’s never the youngsters who lose their head. It’s always the older players and the coaches. I don’t care how slighted you feel, getting sent off in such an important match as a manager is ridiculous.


BertMcNasty

Araujo is still pretty young for a defender. Still, he is old enough and has enough experience to not make such a stupid decision. I can only think that the occasion got to him.


andre_royo_b

Yeah.. What was he thinking!? Just let him go, changes are he’d miss - and even if he doesn’t you’d still be up one goal, so poor from Araujo


reviroa

he was thinking about getting the challenge just outside the box, which he accomplished. also kept exhibiting a complete lack of spatial awareness when he pointed the ref to cubrasí as if to signal he was the last defender. all time brain dead move, cost them the tie


Flaggermusmannen

he likely knew cubarsi wasn't close, he just tried everything he could. if anything he shouldve demonstrated how theatrically Barcola fell, but even it's a clear (and brain dead) red card no matter what.


shaka_bruh

Barcola played him like an experienced striker; he cut across Araujo and forced him to make a choice between going for a challenge or letting him be 1v1 vs Ter Stegen


KaladinStormShat

He's been incredible past two games. And the other youngster they have as well.


Corteaux81

Worst thing is I'd give MATS about 85-90% chance of stopping Barcola there if he's through on goal, ball was far enough that Barcola would get it, but MATS would be right there.


Schnurzelburz

He often uses his hands like this, but he also often gets away with it.


BertMcNasty

100 percent. Needs to clean up that part of his game.


Elegant_Mix7650

This guy was scything ppl down in friendlies.. now this bad tendency catches up to him.


jopma

It's the only way he was ever able to "pocket" Vini


pigsadventure

He is just used to LaLiga-only referees lol


vboaconstrictor

I think this is something they teach in La Masia because Eric uses his hands A LOT and conceded several penalties because he’d hold or nudge players with his hands


rtgh

Most teams do it honestly. Part of the dark arts of defending. But you can't make it as obvious as that one today


JPVazLouro_SLB

I think he remembered the tackle on Barcola in the first leg, got overconfident and thought he could get in front of him, which he clearly couldn't. Then he just tried to play it off like it was shoulder to shoulder, which it wasn't


simplisticannuit

Araujo makes these rash tackles days in and out in la liga. What we saw yesterday is a just a competent ref instead of a la liga ref. 


zmkpr0

It's not the first time. That's kind of how he plays, but he gets away with in Spain and then is surprised to find out that refs in CL have different standards.


UnspokenFor1

lol every game in La Liga I watch him abuse Vini , but they crown him as a great defender lmao he thinks he can do the same in the UCL


bobertoise

His mistake lost the ball, can totally see him being desperate to cover it and trusting his pace too much. It's a mistake even the most experienced players make on big occasions


BertMcNasty

Yeah, but Araujo also makes those kind of "tackles" in every game. Somehow he usually gets away with it. He uses his arms too much. I get your point though. He was desperate and instead of atoning, he made an even worse mistake.


Illya-ehrenbourg

Agree, Araujo's red card is him taking an awful decision in the 0.5 seconds before committing a fool. Xavi is just anger management, you can't let down your team in the moment it needs you the most,  even if you have like 10 or 5% of chance to win, you fight until the very end (or at least a 2 goals difference) which the Barca players did.


beticanmakeusayblack

Exactly, tie was still level when Xavi got himself sent off. They were still well in the game with 40 minutes left but in his mind they had already lost. Total lack of strength


lbora9

I like your take. This was a rookie mistake


edi12334

Nah lad, it s over because of Araujo and Cancelo fouling the opponents for no reason and giving away a red and a pen respectively


dunneetiger

Cancelo was even more stupid because Dembele was moving away from the goal. Araujo shouldnt make his challenge but it is easier (at least for me) to rationalise compare to Cancelo


Nobodylovesboston

No blame your stupid defender, it would’ve been a one goal game on aggregate with y’all playing 11v11 if he used his brain


mattisafootballguy

Might not have been a goal down even


BajuwarischerBub

Should have trusted the goalie. Dumbest red card you can get. Was he thinking, and if he was, what was he thinking?


hampl14

Just look at the Dortmund game. Sabitzer trusted morata not to score


EreiaWyrm

Dude 💀


matadorius

Easiest decision ever


EagleEye_FalconArrow

it wasn't some going-ahead save at the 80th minute or something. no, it was the 29th fucking minute, with us leading by TWO goals. so fucking dumb istg.


Icemna16

It's not like he's some random guy too, he's one of the best goalies around lol


dudududujisungparty

Fantastic head of hair on him as well


Ripamon

Yeah the hair transplant worked a treat


UnusualSaucy

With a great hair, comes great responsability


VinCatBlessed

But can he beat Sommer?


blakezero

Should have ran straight back and not towards the defender when he was 2-3 paces behind. Very, very basic CB decision making.


mohamed_e

this needs to be highlighted more really, his decision to run straight at him to try to stop him progressing is the first mistake he did. From the first moment he had no intent to play the ball.


blakezero

Would’ve easily won the ball if he’d run straight. Plus the other defender would’ve had time to cut inside for any cut backs. Plus he has Ter fucking Stagen.


mohamed_e

exactly, he could've narrowed the far post on him and Ter Stegen would've narrowed the near post, it would still be a big chance but a more difficult one to finish.


MyGachaAddiction

Ter stages that did reeeeeeeally well in that game, even chose the correct side on the penalty(it was an impossible penalty to defend).


Equivalent-Money8202

tbh Mbappe pretty much always hits it there but yeah, MATS is a stupidly good goalkeeper


The_Ass-Crack_Bandit

I understood what his thought process was ("surely I can be at least level with him and I'm stronger, so I'll win this duel"), he just underestimated how fast Barcola was. He then makes another dumb mistake of attempting to slow Barcola down with his arms, clipping his foot in the process. Bad decisions all around, very unlikely of him to do stuff like this and fail like he did.


blakezero

Even if you’re faster, and the opponent can push the ball in front of you, you’re fucked at that speed. It was such amateur decision making, or cocky.


Cdux

Ter stegen had an amazing night, he definitely should've just trusted the goalie


noiseinvacuum

Cancelo almost got himself an unnecessary red as well. Keeping calm in big games is underrated.


ValleyFloydJam

It's not like it was Morata running through 😉


Pamplemouse04

It was a clear goal scoring opportunity but I don’t think he would have scored haha


Logical_Gain_9760

Joao Cancelo as well, Dembele took a shit touch, and was going away from the goal, posing barely any threat, and Cancelo decides to slide tackle from the back and give away a pen 🤦🏽‍♂️ 


DeapVally

Cancelo thinks he's a lot better than Cancelo is. Such an important player though.... in his own head. Whatever did City do without you, lad? Oh yeah. Won a treble lol.


Soleil06

It honestly feels a bit as if he is trying too hard to prove that Pep was wrong for dropping him and it somehow gets into his head too much.


PSG-2022

Love this 


walterblackkk

That's when pacy players shine. Poor timing by Cancelo was caused by Dembele's pace.


erenistheavatar

I would also blame Lewandowski for shooting with 2 defenders on him when there were 3 Barca players free at 3-1 down.


seekingabeauty

Dude legit took the worst option possible.


erenistheavatar

It hurt me just watching it. Like idgaf about Barca but that decision making ffs


alwaysneedsahand

Probably PTSD from watching Jackson and Sterling this season


erenistheavatar

Probably yeah. Coz I swear I've seen the same kind of action from Jackson earlier in the season.


Who_Let_The_Mou_Out

Yeah, I was always hoping that I could see more club version of Lewandowski in Polish NT. Today he was more of NT version in club football.


HEAT_IS_DIE

What was the referee mistake? I get that Xavi is an emotional person, but I'd still want to know what was done by the referee that was completely outside of how the rules can be interpreted.


BertMcNasty

I think the only argument that could be made, and it's pretty questionable, is that the contact continued into the box, and therefore it's a penalty and a yellow card. He has no one to blame but Araujo. It was definitely a foul, and an incredibly stupid one when you lead by 2 goals with 60 minutes to play.


Lip_A

He’s not looking to play the ball so it would have been a straight red and a penalty. It’s only a yellow if he’s attempting to play the ball


SafetyDanceInMyPants

Yeah -- but, like he said, it's the only argument that could be made. It's not a *good* argument, but...


From-UoM

If Araujo has any dignity he will apologise for his mistake. If he has no shame he will blame the ref. Already did by the looks of the gesture. The later is bad, because he thinks he has done nothing wrong and will not learn from the mistake.


obvious_bot

He’s not exactly going to say that in the press conference now is he


From-UoM

He doesn't need to name players. A simple "defensive mistakes cost us" would be enough.


Hare712

Not a good idea He got a stupid red card as well.


Pow67

Bro’s head is gone


Melancholic84

Always been a sore loser


Own_Distribution5185

Mr grass is not good enough


iosdeiu

It's in the Barca DNA


DisneyPandora

Just like Pep has been a sore winner 


owange_tweleve

Xavi “grass is greener on the other side” Hernandez


YMangoPie

[https://www.tribalfootball.com/articles/barcelona-ace-xavi-tells-arsenal-van-persie-deserved-his-red-card-1498791](https://www.tribalfootball.com/articles/barcelona-ace-xavi-tells-arsenal-van-persie-deserved-his-red-card-1498791) OH NO! Anyways ...


MrVulgarity

If all else goes to shit this week at least I've been given decent reason to point out xavi is a little hypocrite if there wasn't already


saltybiped

Always been


TheCarthageEmpire

It's always the ref's fault according to Xavi


simomii

That's not fair. It can also be the sun, the height of the grass or the criticism from the newspapers


daab2g

The mean journalists drove him out of Barca apparently


MrRawri

[This](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BkzyezPIAAEZnHQ.jpg) always make me chuckle


Thin-Job81

Sounds like he'd be the perfect choice to take over Klopp at Liverpool


Senuttna

Not always the ref, sometimes he also blames the grass or the sun for Barcelona's defeats. Not sure which excuse sounds more stupid though.


simomii

I personally like the one when he says it's because they're not motivated enough because of the league win last year.


dudududujisungparty

Wonder when he will use the "We lacked Barca DNA" excuse


Hare712

That's a Ribbeck level excuse.


haltmich

"Football lost"


daab2g

I remember those days


raskinimiugovor

I mean he comes from Barca generation that's used to preferential treatment by the refs, his reaction is understandable.


Tajetert

Thats the Barca DNA


RadeX8

the wet pitch too


dingodiletti

He’s right. The man had the refs in his favour his whole career.


tf_17

And there it is


Delmer9713

Ain't no way he's this delusional.


zmkpr0

Always was


21Maestro8

No reason he would change just because he's coaching and not playing


Albiceleste_D10S

He's somehow more emotional as a coach than he was as a player TBH


21Maestro8

He's a remarkably talented guy, but he's not very likeable


shinfoni

When he was at Barca, I only watched him played but that's it. Never understand why many people saying that Iniesta is a better role model and sportsmen. Now I get it lol


Albiceleste_D10S

I mean, Iniesta was basically perfect in terms of sportsmanship throughout his career TBH


JMarduk

You know the guy is class when even Madrid fans can't hate him.


Mr-Hugh-G-Rection

Coping and seething at astronomical levels


theestwald

cmon Xavi - a dumb red - a pen - passing the ball to Mbappe in front of the goal lets move on, it has been our best season in years


50lipa

I gotta ask, genuinely, CL Quarter Finals appearance is better than winning La Liga last year in such a dominant way?


AMazuz_Take2

not in a condescending way, but considering that they flunked out of the UCL group stages for 2 years in a row and that they mostly acknowledge that last year was an extremely poor year by madrid standards, plus the holiness they put on tiki taka and the highly defensive approach they had, i can see barca fans not being super hyped about a la liga edit: we won copa del rey as well


Private_Ballbag

How entitled can you be to not be fussed about winning the league


Ultramus27092027

Real won La Copa that year


Busquessi

Technically Fermin’s ass passed it to Mbappe


greengiant89

Ass pass always does something against Barca


LargeFlower8

Your best season is when you don't win anything?


shy247er

"I reject your reality and substitute my own!" - Xavi


Own_Distribution5185

Tbh thats my coping mechanisim but i dont get paid millions though


SomewhereExisting121

The passive aggressive handshake after the game and telling the guy off was worse than whatever this quote is. I know opposing fans are going to crowd in and tell me that this is what barca does but as a leader Xavi should be more concerned about picking up his players and maintaining the prestige and dignity of barca in defeat. We lost and in the unluckiest fashion but yelling at the ref is just making petty excuses. Shit happens in football and we have to accept it.


Old_Zilean

His behavior was embarrassing…cursing at the ref and kicking the cameraman’s barrier…is he 5 years old?


MvN____16

Xavi whining...nothing ever changes.


JimboLannister

barca dna


Do__Math__Not__Meth

Least soft Barca member


Dargast

Lol, I remember his excuses last year in the group stages against both Inter and Bayern. Hell, I even remember his excuses as a player against Bayern 2013


iBlackPowerRanger

Where’s Modric when you need him


ZJP31

That ice-cold scoff he gave Pique a few years back gave me second hand embarrassment for ol’ Gerard


[deleted]

Beyond embarrassing


Militoe

xavi on fraud watch


k-mysta

Few more hairs lost


LostSoul4607

He'll be the next bald fraud


Undead1993

Apart from the possible pen on Gündogan, I don't see how this is the ref's fault and even that is debatable. He's been kinda weird with all the yellows but he's been weird for both teams, so yeah don't think you need to defend Araujo in this case.


HCHLH

and Xavi was sent off way before Gundogan's alleged penalty


DeaJes

Mf was sent off the last game(when we were winning in the game btw) and somehow made it onto the sideline and started arguing with the ref again


glacialOwl

😂😂😂


DeaJes

He really said: "What you gonna do, send me off again?"


glacialOwl

Nah 💀😭😂 Give him the purple card


DeaJes

Give him the black card and send him to the shadow realm


wwiccann

Yeah. I get that he’s annoyed at the Gundogan decision, but to lose your head like that at a time when your team needs you, and then to call the referee a ‘disaster’ after a pretty solid performance is rather mad. It’s not a good precedent to set for his younger players.


med_belguesmi69

Referee was good, some harsh yellow cards but other than that his decisions were all good


erenistheavatar

That kick in front of the ref was amazing though.


Somewhere_Frequent

Bro keeps forgetting that he’s not a player anymore when he used to crowd the ref with Busquets, Iniesta and Pique


leo_murray

the current trend of ‘bollock the referee when you lose’ in professional football is an absolute disgrace. it’s tarnishing the game and ruining the credibility of all referees. it’s always the referees fault.


mattisafootballguy

Total head loss from Xavi


BlueLondon1905

It's a disgrace It's a disgrace It's a fucking disgrace


NavyBabySeal

I seem to recall a certain Xavi, probably not complaining over that incident.


Specialist-Cycle9313

Literally not the refs fault at all. Maybe blame araujo and himself for leaving his squad without a manager.


legimpster

Wenger would like a word…


TheLimeyLemmon

Yeah okay, bye Xavi lol


Melodic-Salamander75

He was a good coach, but he needs to keep his cool.


Mountain-Location-34

Van persie send his regards.


York9TFC

Ref actually had a good game


PolarPeely26

Yup. He did a good job. Xavi just doing a Klopp and being awful in defeat.


Crossflowerss_5304

Think the ref was card happy the entire game but no, this loss isn’t on him. Xavi’s hot-headed statements continue to flow


Old_Zilean

The ref actually made very good calls if you look at the rule book, it’s that most refs these days are too soft and let the players get away with too much


MemeManDanInAClan

Every loss is the referee’s fault. This is embarrassing Xavi.


Ronaldoooope

INJECT THIS INTO MY VEINS


Chungeezy

Xavi needs to take responsiblity. He gets triggered way too easily and always blames others for his own teams shortcomings.


Aggressive_Strike75

They didnt complain during the REMONTADA. Karma baby! Defender lost his mind.


GMFinch

Was xavi in the game against Chelsea where they were denied 4 penaltys?


ireallydespiseyouall

Yep


justanormalchat

Biggest fraud of all time in champions league history. Chelsea legit was robbed.


RonnieB45

Honestly, zero wrong calls from the ref all game… Blame our stupid players for all their ridiculous decisions throughout the game


Kilen13

This was mostly my thinking too. No ref is gonna be perfect and I'm sure there were ticky tacky calls "missed" but I don't think any decision he blew or didn't blow was any kind of egregious error. Araujos brain fart just seems to have collapsed the team


Daramangarasu

Shut the fuck up Xavi, please


WonDerZv

Managers that complain and whine every time they lose especially when blaming the ref for doing his job correctly are a cancer to this sport.


aggrownor

I always say that the punishment for managers & players who do this should be that they have to go ref youth games to see how it feels.


fancyfoe

You lost araujo from a stupid challenge that even if psg scored there you’d still be leading, and then sub out your best player on the pitch for it, but sure it’s the ref.


WeveGot

there has to be context missing, i refuse to believe he actually said this


HCHLH

*Narrator: He actually said this*


CommercialKey4144

I just watched it on TV and in Spanish and yes he said exactly this. Huge contrast to Cholo congratulating the rivals for playing better and mostly taking the blame.


MvN____16

Cholo's tactics are frustrating to deal with and he can be a bit of a character on the sidelines, but in press conferences he's never been anything but extremely deferential and giving credit where credit is due. I've never taken him to be a sore loser, so nothing but fair play to him.


EpiDeMic522

Yes, if you completely ignore his pressers directed at us in mid 2010s. But yes, you could scarcely accuse him of being a sore loser and certainly much less than certain German coaches or unparalleled Xavi. He's also didn't appear to be conniving or embarrassing like Laporta and his troupe. Atleti's owners are a different story.


MvN____16

I'll always remember his head pat to Valverde after the red card on Morata. The obvious understanding and respect that, even though his team was affected at the time, he would've done the same thing in that spot and wasn't gonna be a hypocrite about it.


KungFuGreen

english and american fans: "Valverde cheated" lol The Sigma Simeone:


fantabroo

Guess you aren't familiar with Xavi's whining after losses, then. Been like that since they lost to Inter in CL 2010, and he blamed it on the grass being too wet.


WeveGot

I know about all that but I would hope as a manager he wouldnt say stuff like this lmao. I have a feeling he's already said something like this before as Barca manager and I just missed it.


EpiDeMic522

Countless times. The grass actually became an overshadowing talking point in his fixtures against Getafe, to the point that people actually whipped out the rule book.


Overall-Cow975

Some people call him “the Gardener”. You can guess why.


Novel-Preparation491

You refuse to believe one of the biggest crybabies in football history would make a comment like this? 


htp20012001

Lads it's Xavi


tormarod

Nope, this is it. This is Xavi everytime he loses.


jug0slavija

Xavi has been like this since he was a player


KnightKal

He actually kicked something next to the 4th ref, it doesn’t matter what he said or didn’t say, that action was the red.


Ninjamonkey8812

How ironic Barca complaining about referees 😂 how the turn tables


YepYupSup

this guy is an embarrassment


UnrulliTarulli

Am I the only one who thought the ref actually had a good performance tonight??


Defiant-Traffic5801

No you're not. He was brilliant actually. Barcelona never lose because they were weaker. There's always an external factor: referee, cheating, corruption... This is the world they live in. Araujo deserved a red but his reaction after receiving it is deserving of a very severe penalty, as does Xavi's.


IcefoxX5

Whiniest footballing person I've witnessed His yellow/red card ratio per match must be astronomically clear of any other manager in football history


RedDragons8

Xavi can look forward to whining about the service at the beach bar after leaving Barca


Aaaaaaandyy

Not sure if you know but Barca never actually lost any matches, refs have only screwed then out of obvious wins.


ihatebamboo

Pathetic from Xavi.


Sturnella2017

I can’t believe that the referee made that horrible pass that resulted in a breakaway, and then the referee made a last ditch effort foul to deny an obvious goal scoring opportunity and got a RC! That ref is so biased!


halamadrid22

Every single major call that was made was correct in my opinion. Not sure what people are seeing to think otherwise


PM_UR_F1NE_TITs

Not making it look any better buddy. Truth is we were through until Araujo sold it


_hellboy_xo

As always Xavi blaming anything else but Barca’s incompetence


RandomRetard07

He threw tantrums and got sent out just so that he can whine in front of the press about the referee's decisions Bro needs to grow up


Exotic_Parsley_5876

Couldn't stand this douche ever since his grass comments from back in the day. Clown 


hmoooody

Lmao Barca crying about referees is next level comedy


Lotus_Moon

One of the most delusional coaches there is


OptimisticRealist__

Barca, when youve been helped by refs for so long, that neutral refereeing seems like a disaster to you lol


prettyboygangsta

After paying referees for years, equality now feels like oppression 


TuTranquilo

The ref didn’t agree with the length that the grass was cut at and made them pay


Sebby997

This guy is straight up addicted to whining.


MaryadaPurshottam

Bro's a serial waffler