Barcelona consider filing complaint over no-penalty call – What the rules say about Marc Pubill goal-kick

Barcelona were left furious on Wednesday night after their 2-0 loss to Atletico Madrid in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final at Camp Nou, but with the referee, rather than themselves. The game turned on a sending off for Pau Cubarsi, which Julian Alvarez punished again with a goal from the free-kick, but the Catalan side felt they were due at least a penalty in the second period.

The incident in question occurred when Atletico goalkeeper Juan Musso placed the ball down inside his six-yard box, and then played it to Marc Pubill. The defender proceeded to stop the ball with his hand, and play it back to Musso, who played on, as the Barcelona players appealed for a handball.

– Wednesday, 8 April 2026

Musso dismissed the idea it should be a penalty as a nonsense idea , while Marcus Rashford said there was no debate over it. Hansi Flick was incensed by the decision , asking what the point of VAR is, if not for this. Diego Simeone called it ‘common sense’ not to give a penalty.

– Thursday, 9 April 2026

The rules would appear to rule in Barcelona’s favour. As highlighted by Sport and MD, Rule 16 of the IFAB regulations state the following.

-The ball must be stationary and is kicked from any point within the goal area by a player of the defending team -The ball is in play when it is kicked and clearly moves -Opponents must be outside the penalty area until the ball is in play If, after the ball is in play, the kicker touches the ball again before it has touched another player, an indirect free kick is awarded; if the kicker commits a handball offence: a direct free kick is awarded a penalty kick is awarded if the offence occurred inside the kicker’s penalty area, unless the kicker was the goalkeeper, in which case an indirect free kick is awarded

There was some debate over whether Lamine Yamal had entered the area before the goal-kick was taken, but this only appears to happen once the goal-kick is – in Barcelona’s eyes – taken by Musso.

According to Sport , Barcelona are considering filing an official letter of complaint to UEFA, stating their dissatisfaction with the officiating. It is a measure without real consequence, as UEFA already have a referee assessor present at every game who will have written a report on the events. They would respond to the Blaugrana, but out of courtesy and without taking action.

As highlighted by Cadena SER , there is plenty of precedent. During an Argentine league game between Independiente and Colon, the referee neglected to give a penalty for a similar incident, but after a VAR review, decided to do so. The same thing happened in 2024 in the Champions League between Club Brugge and Aston Villa, where the Belgian side were given a spot-kick when Tyrone Mings picked up the ball, after Emiliano Martinez played it to him.

– Wednesday, 6 November 2024

On the other hand, later that year, David Raya passed the ball to Gabriel Magalhaes inside his six-yard box from a goal-kick during a clash between Arsenal and Bayern Munich. The referee decided to allow the goal-kick to be taken again by Gabriel after he picked the ball up and played it back to Raya.

– Wednesday, 10 April 2024