European football governing body UEFA on Tuesday rejected Barcelona's complaint over a handball incident in their Champions League quarterfinal first leg defeat by Atletico Madrid. The decision was announced hours before the second leg is set to take place.

In last week's match, Diego Simeone's side secured a 2-0 victory at Camp Nou. Barcelona was aggrieved by an incident where Atletico defender Marc Pubill touched the ball with his hand following what appeared to be a goal kick, but no penalty was awarded. The club also criticized the failure of the VAR team to instruct referee Istvan Kovacs to review the episode.

UEFA stated in an official release: "Following the first leg, Barcelona filed a protest relating to a referee decision. On 13 April 2026, the UEFA Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body declared the protest to be inadmissible."

The five-time Champions League winners labeled the decision not to award a penalty as a "major error" that influenced the match's outcome. Barcelona expressed further frustration that the VAR officials did not intervene to have the incident re-examined.

UEFA's dismissal of the complaint adds to the tension ahead of the crucial second leg on Tuesday evening, potentially impacting Barcelona's morale as they seek to overturn the deficit. This case reignites ongoing debates about the inconsistent application of handball rules and the perceived shortcomings in the VAR review process within top-tier European competitions.

Source: www.aljazeera.com