Barcelona star addresses ‘spit’ at Francesco Acerbi in ‘unnecessary’ reaction to Inter Milan hero
Barcelona star Inigo Martinez has addressed whether he spat at Francesco Acerbi after the Inter Milan celebrated near him in a historic Champions League tie between the two sides.
Barcelona and Inter played out one of the best Champions League ties of all time. After the first leg of the semi-final, the juggernauts were equal at 3-3.
After the first 90 minutes of the semi final, another three goals had been scored by each side, taking the game to extra time at 6-6 on aggregate.
Barcelona thought they had won it through Raphinha in the 87th minute, before Inter centre-back Acerbi put on his shooting boots and turned into the Barcelona net in the 93rd minute, before Davide Frattesi wrapped the tie up in extra time.
Acerbi was involved in a moment of controversy earlier on in the game. Inter went 2-0 up on the night through a Hakan Calhanoglu penalty, after which Acerbi ran past Barcelona defender Martinez to celebrate.
Video footage of the incident looks as if the Spaniard spat at Acerbi, but no action was taken, and the Barcelona man has cleared things up.
“Simply, he celebrated in my ear, and my reaction was unnecessary,” Martinez told El Chiringuito.
“At no point did I spit at him. Otherwise, I would have been sent off. I have no doubt.”
Acerbi ran to the referee immediately, and after the game, Wayne Rooney stated on Prime Video Sport: “You don’t want to see that. I can’t see it clearly whether he has or hasn’t, but you certainly don’t want to see that in a football game or anywhere.
“So yeah, hopefully that’s not the case, and if he has done he’ll have to face his punishment, which he’ll deserve if he has done that.”
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One would imagine that VAR would pick on an incident such as that during the game, and given they did not, it seems unlikely anything will come of it.
It also seems unlikely that Martinez would come out and state he did not spit at Acerbi if he feels there’s a chance evidence will come to light which proves he did.
In any case, Inter got the last laugh as they advanced to the final for the second time in three years. There, they will face either Paris Saint-Germain or Arsenal, with the former side 1-0 up in the second semi-final.
