Rashford doesn't accept Istvan Kovacs' decision even with a broken head: “Penalty! I can't understand”
Article by Daniel Grigore – Published on Thursday, 09 April 2026, 09:05 / Updated on Thursday, 09 April 2026 09:05
Holder in Barcelona – Atletico Madrid 0-2on the field until the 73rd minute, Marcus Rashford (28) explained how he felt it didn't work for his team and was dismayed by one of the decisions of Istvan Kovacsthat of not awarding a penalty when Marc Pubill got his hands on the ball in his own box.
Barcelona lost at home in the first leg of the quarter-finals of the Champions League, 0-2, and will have a difficult task next week at the Metropolitano.
Marcus Rashford played 73 minutes for the hosts and insisted after the game that inefficiency in front of goal had cost Barcelona dearly.
Marcus Rashford, after Barcelona – Atletico: “We just needed to put the ball in the net”
“It's disappointing, very disappointing, but that's football. Phases like the one in elimination can happen, but the mentality we had, the desire to get back into the game, was amazing. We'll have to make the most of it in the next game to turn the score around. We know what we're capable of when we play at our best. We have to try to do that in the next game.
This team will always create chances because there is so much quality in possession, both in midfield and in defence… We don't have problems in possession but today the ball didn't go in the goal. But we cannot avoid the responsibility of having wasted those opportunities. On another evening, on another day, he would have entered. We have to pay attention to that in the second leg,” Rashford said on CBS Sports.
Regarding the sending off of Pau Cubarsi, Rashford said that “when you defend up high, it's possible for something like that to happen. If some people wanted Cuba to do nothing, then maybe the opponent would have scored. He tried to win the ball, he couldn't, and the referee made the decision, red card.”
“But we responded well after that phase, we just needed to put the ball in the net. In the next game we will focus on that. We have to go there, have confidence and show that we are capable of turning the result around. We need to be more efficient in front of goal, we will work on that“, added the Englishman.
Rashford doesn't accept the decision of Istvan Kovacs: “Penalty!”
Asked later about the phase in which Musso appeared to put the ball back in play, passing to Pubill, but the Spaniard got his hands on the ballas if to repeat, Rashford was dismayed that Istvan Kovacs did not whistle and award a penalty for Barcelona:
“It's a penalty. It's a penalty. It's happened before and penalties have always been awarded at such stages. It's not something natural. It would have been common sense, it would have been natural to give a penalty, that was everyone's reaction. Not just us, but also the opposing players. You have to look at it.
I can't understand. I was playing in a match when it happened to us and it was a penalty then. Can't we complain?
If he wanted the defender to put the ball back, he should have “stabbed” it with his hand, as he had done the whole match. But in this phase he kicked, then the defender got his hands on the ball. For me, it's a penalty!”.
The phase claimed by Flick: Goalkeeper Musso plays the ball, Pubill gets his hands on it and places it in the corner of the small box
The precedent of Arsenal – Bayern
Another match in which such an escape went unpunished is Arsenal – Bayern 2-2, in the quarter-finals of the Champions League, season 2023/2024.
Then, the Brazilian Gabriel was the one who took the ball in his hand, in the penalty area, but the referee Glenn Nyberg did not give the Germans a penalty.
“It was a childish mistake. It wasn't in the spirit of the game to punish her with a kick from 11 meters”, the Swedish “central” explained his decision.
