Newcastle United latest news: Barcelona defender Ronald Araujo has spoken about referee Marco Guida’s performance at St James’ Park.
Barcelona defender Ronald Araujo has questioned why he was told to stay off the pitch by referee Marco Guida before Newcastle United took the lead on Tuesday night.
The Magpies nudged themselves ahead with just four minutes of normal time left to play as Harvey Barnes met a teasing Jacob Murphy cross to tap home at the back post. Barnes was able to take advantage of Araujo being off the pitch to ghost past his marker and tap home Murphy’s cross.
As Newcastle United built their attack, Araujo was ordered off the pitch by the referee after struggling with cramp. The defender was off the pitch before shuffling himself onto it to delay Aaron Ramsdale from restarting the game.
An irate Dan Burn looked to shift the Barcelona man off the field of play with his actions catching the attention of the Italian official who did not let Araujo return to the field until Newcastle United restarted the game. Eddie Howe’s side would then build up the attack on the right side of the pitch before Murphy’s deep cross found an unmarked Barnes.
The controversial moment was noticed by Fabrizio Romano who wrote on Facebook: ‘ Araujo was still standing behind Newcastle's goal because he tried to get injury treatment on the pitch. The referee WOULDN'T let him back in. When Newcastle scored, Araujo was still on his way back - which meant Raphinha had to play RIGHT BACK. ’
Ronald Araujo criticises Newcastle United v Barcelona referee
Lamine Yamal’s late equaliser from the penalty spot rescued a draw for the visitors, but that wasn’t enough to quell Araujo’s frustrations at full-time. He told Mundo Deportivo: “If I’m cramping, I can enter the field standing or crawling.
“I don’t understand the referee’s decision; he sent me out again. Afterwards, I couldn’t get to the area. I don’t understand the referee’s decision.”
Barcelona ultimately left Tyneside with the scores level and in a good position ahead of the away leg in Spain next week. They were also the beneficiaries of a few refereeing decisions that went their way, particularly those by Guida not to book either Fermin Lopez or Yamal for cynical fouls on Lewis Hall.
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Both players would have been suspended from the second leg had they been shown a booking by the referee. Araujo continued: “I’m happy with the result. We found the equalizer in the end. We didn’t play as well as we wanted. We have to highlight what we learned in the Cup, the 4-0 against Atlético. Today we were smart. In the Champions League, you have to be. Now we play at home, with our fans. It will be a great match.
“We wanted to threaten higher up, keep more possession. We played against a great opponent, with the stadium pressing. It was a tough match. We leave with good feelings, because it will be decided at home.”
The second-leg at the Camp Nou kicks-off at 5:45 (UK time) on Wednesday 18 March. The winner of that tie will then almost certainly play Atletico Madrid in the last-eight of the competition after Diego Simeone's side triumphed 5-2 against Tottenham Hotspur on Tuesday night.
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