Barcelona midfielder Gavi has shared a bizarre conspiracy theory after his side lost to Inter Milan in the Champions League semi-final.
After a thrilling two legs, Barca ended up on the losing end of a 7-6 scoreline after the second leg at San Siro went to extra time.
They did find themselves 6-5 up on aggregate in Milan, but 37-year-old Francesco Acerbi's instinctive 93rd minute finish took the game to extra time.
There, Davide Frattesi struck in the 99th minute to send Simone Inzaghi's side to the final.
Advert
Barcelona remained confident of victory heading into the game despite drawing 3-3 in the first leg in Spain, and had to battle back from 2-0 down in the second leg to go within minutes of progression.
But Hansi Flick's side will now instead have to focus on securing the La Liga title - though there was controversy surrounding their European exit.
Midfielder Pedri claimed that referee Szymon Marciniak made decisions which he 'could not understand', including a decision not to give Henrikh Mkhitaryan a second yellow card for a foul on Lamine Yamal just outside the area.
That foul was initially given as a penalty by Marciniak, before being changed to a free-kick after a VAR check.
Former FIFA match official Rafal Rostkowski claimed that the VAR official made an error both in giving the penalty instead of the free kick, and not inviting Marciniak over to view the incident on the VAR pitchside monitor.
He told SPORT: "Szymon Marciniak was right to award a penalty, but the VAR referee dissuaded him from doing so."
Now, Gavi has shared his own 'conspiracy theory' about the result.
Taking to Instagram, he wrote: "It's very hard, and even more so when you know how close we were, culers [Barca fans].
"They didn't want us to reach the final because they were afraid of the season we're having."
The 'they' Gavi is referring to isn't immediately clear. The 20-year-old emerged as a substitute in the second half of extra time at San Siro.
Topics: Barcelona, Gavi, Champions League, Inter Milan
Ryan Smart