Man City boss Manuel Pellegrini said Swedish referee Jonas Eriksson favoured Barcelona in the Spanish side's 2-0 victory at Etihad Stadium and that European clash was 'too big’ for a Swedish official.City matched Barca for long periods of the match on Tuesday, creating the better opportunities despite seeing the visitors dominate possession. Eriksson awarded Barcelona a penalty and sent off City defender Martin Demichelis.

Pellegrini claimed Eriksson was "not impartial to both teams".

In a previous fixture, Barcelona criticised the official for failing to award two penalties against AC Milan.

Pellegrini said: "Before the penalty, which was outside the area, there was a foul on Jesus Navas. He didn't control any of the game.
"I think it was not a good idea to put a referee from Sweden in charge of such an important match, and a referee who made an important mistake against Barcelona in a previous match. Today he arranged it.
"The more important mistake is the foul against Navas, and secondly the penalty.
"Contact was outside the box - that is the foul, you cannot continue the foul. The first foul is outside the box. Before the penalty Barcelona did not have chances and we were preparing the way to score."

The outburst is certain to land the Chilean coach in trouble with Uefa. Pellegrini also confronted the official at full-time.

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