Kovacs officiated Tuesday’s quarter-final first leg between the Catalans and the Rojiblancos, yet his decisions left much to be desired. He initially showed Barcelona defender Pau Cubarsi a yellow card for a clear professional foul, only to dismiss him with a straight red after VAR intervention.
For Barça, one incident in the 54th minute in particular sparked controversy, when Atlético goalkeeper Juan Musso played a goal kick to teammate Marc Pubill. Pubill had stopped the ball with his hand and taken the goal kick again. “For me, that’s a clear yellow-red card and a penalty,” Barcelona manager Hansi Flick said, pointing the finger at German video referee Christian Dingert. “He has to say, ‘Take a look at that.’ But he didn’t, so: ‘Thanks to Germany’.”