Did referee really ruin Barca in PSG defeat? Honest assessment

Four key decisions from the referee marked the tie between Barcelona and PSG. Unfortunately, they all went against Barca.

First, Barca were shown a red card with Ronald Araujo getting his marching orders after 29 minutes.

And then Ilkay Gundogan was denied a penalty and booked for complaining about the decision.

To make matters worse, Xavi and his assistant were shown a straight red card, leaving Barca without a clear voice from the bench for almost the entire second half.

As if that was not enough, a penalty was awarded against Barca for a foul on Ousmane Dembele inside the box later in the second half.

All that allowed PSG to stroll to a 4-1 victory with Xavi labelling the referee a disaster while claiming he destroyed Barca's entire hard work this season.

But was that really the case?

The simple answer is NO. The referee had a good game if we're being honest after sleeping on it.

Here's why.

Araujo deserved the red

Araujo's decision to bring down Barcola, who had beaten him for pace and was clear on goal, was a stupid one.

That was indeed a schoolboy error that deserved punishment.

This was a rookie mistake from a captain like Araujo. He let his team down and Barca cannot honestly blame the ref for his action. And let's not forget it was his poor pass that gifted PSG the attack in the first place.

Gundogan tripped himself?

On closer observation of that Gundogan penalty shout that went unheard, it seems like Gundo tripped himself and not the other way around.

It would've been beyond harsh to give a penalty for a play that wasn't clear and obvious. Although we can say Gundo didn't dive.

Vitinha barely touched Gundo who seemed to be already on his way down after the ball got away from him

Xavi was being petty and too emotional

Xavi was shown a red card for throwing tantrums on the sidelines after a foul didn't go Barca's way. He kicked the UEFA advertising boards to the floor and threw his hands in the air while giving the referee a verbal lashing.

This was poor behaviour from the Barca boss. Let's not forget that kids are watching the game and his actions could send the wrong message to the next generation.

"The red card shown to me is my fault," Xavi said after the game.

Xavi's assistant seemed to have modelled his boss. He continued tongue-lashing the referee too leading to his sending off.

Cancelo was poor against Dembouz

Truth be told, Joao Cancelo had a night to forget against Dembele on the left side of Barca's defence. He failed to close him down on several occasions and was slow in keeping up to the pace of the Frenchman.

That was what led to Dembele's goal in the first half. In the second half, the penalty came from another horrendous mistake from the Portuguese.

It was clear that Dembele got to the ball before him and his challenge was rash and uncalled for.

Barca had their chances to score more than one in this game but it was always going to be difficult with 10 men.

Xavi's tactics after the red card have also been criticised. Taking off a lethal weapon like Lamine probably hurt Barca more.