Referees have repeatedly made controversial decisions in the 2025-2026 Champions League quarter-finals. Barcelona even threatened to sue UEFA, claiming they were eliminated due to referee errors.
In the early hours of April 16th, Real Madrid lost 3-4 to Bayern Munich in the second leg of the 2025-2026 Champions League quarter-finals.
Eduardo Camavinga has been disqualified from the competition.
However, the match at the Allianz Arena (Germany) was disrupted by the referee's decisions. In the 86th minute, midfielder Eduardo Camavinga received his second yellow card and was sent off.
In this situation, Real Madrid's Eduardo Camavinga fouled Harry Kane to prevent a counter-attack. The French star then deliberately carried the ball back into his own half, which led referee Vincic to issue him a second yellow card.
After the match, coach Arbeloa expressed his frustration. "The game ended right after Eduardo Camavinga received a second yellow card. I really don't understand why the referee would send a player off in that situation. I think he didn't remember Camavinga had already received a yellow card earlier. He ruined a beautiful game. The game was over right after that unfair card."
Meanwhile, commentator Alfonso Pérez Burrull also lost his temper and called referee Vincic's decision against Eduardo Camavinga an "abuse of power".
In the 2025-2026 Champions League quarter-finals, another Spanish team, Barcelona, also faced controversial refereeing decisions. Specifically, Barcelona won 2-1 against Atletico Madrid in the second leg, but that alone was not enough to secure their place in the next round.
After the match, Barcelona president Joan Laporta said: "First of all, congratulations to Atletico Madrid for reaching the semi-finals, but that cannot mask the fact that the refereeing was a disgrace. It is unacceptable."
Barcelona were eliminated after the quarter-finals of the 2025-2026 Champions League.
The Barcelona president listed a series of disadvantages for Barcelona in this match, such as Ferran Torres having a goal disallowed for offside, Eric Garcia receiving a direct red card in the 79th minute, and Dani Olmo being fouled in the penalty area but not being awarded a penalty. “These decisions greatly affected the course of the match. We will continue to fight with UEFA,” Laporta emphasized.
In another quarter-final match of the 2025-2026 Champions League between Liverpool and PSG, referee decisions also caused controversy. Following the 0-2 defeat at Anfield on April 15th, Liverpool's manager, Arne Slot, stated that his team had been denied a penalty by the referee, which affected the outcome of the match.
"I'm not surprised because we've suffered a lot of unfavorable decisions since the start of the season. It seems like someone is targeting us this season. We've seen many penalties awarded for minor collisions because there was contact. That's something that's been clearly demonstrated on the pitch," said coach Arne Slot.
In the first leg, played a week ago at the Parc des Princes, PSG secured a 2-0 victory over Liverpool. In that match, referee Jose Maria Sanchez was also the focus of attention for repeatedly denying two penalties to the French team, even though slow-motion replays clearly showed Liverpool's central defender Ibrahima Konate making contact with an opposing player inside the penalty area.
Despite the referees' consistently controversial decisions, the organizers have yet to issue any statement regarding this matter.