“Strange things have happened”
MÁLAGA, February 18. (from the special envoy of EUROPA PRESS, Rodrigo Trascasa) –
The Barça coach, Roger Grimau, was disappointed by the referee's performance in this Sunday's final of the Copa del Rey lost against Real Madrid and, although he did not want to excuse the defeat in that, he considered that “strange things happened” and that “a player cannot be “sent off” for fouls in three minutes, as happened with Czech center Jan Vesely.
“In three minutes they expel a great player, one of our best players, and surely then they will see the fouls 'frame' by 'frame' if you touch here, there, this and that, but what do you want me to tell you, in three minutes you cannot send a player off,” Grimau lamented at a press conference.
Furthermore, the former player doubted whether “the referee's criteria” were “the same”, mentioning that Facundo Campazzo's intensity in Madrid was not sanctioned. “He is a player that I love, but he is pressing the entire game, in the indirect press, with the ball pressing and they have only called him for two fouls,” he stated.
Grimau acknowledged that these types of games are not “easy” for referees, but he was also critical of the technique received by center Willy Hernangómez after “having heard: 'This is not the NBA, kid.'” All in all, the Barça coach made it clear that he was not “excusing” himself in the refereeing nor did he want to detract from a Real Madrid team that pushed “at the level they were allowed” and to whom he granted “maximum respect” as a “fair winner.” “.
“Today is perhaps a straw that breaks the camel's back, we are already noticing it. There have been moments in which we have been able to get involved and we have not been able to. We will have to learn to play differently, starting with me, at certain moments we have not known how to play against this hardness,” said Grimau, who confessed that they were “screwed.” Barça failed against its eternal rival and it remains to be seen if it maintains the level it brought to Malaga to now fight for the League and the Euroleague.
“We had a very good start to the game, a fairly complete first half. In the third quarter they found us in some three-point shooting situations. At certain moments when we got involved again, strange things happened. It was difficult for us, I congratulate to the players for the great effort they have made. They have had a very good weekend,” he concluded.