Barcelona's Martinez denies spitting at Acerbi

Barcelona defender Inigo Martinez has denied spitting at Inter Milan's Francesco Acerbi during the Champions League semi-final defeat.

The alleged incident occurred when defender Acerbi ran past Martinez while celebrating Hakan Calhanoglu's penalty to put Inter 2-0 ahead shortly before half-time in the second leg at the San Siro on Tuesday.

"He celebrated in my ear. My reaction was unnecessary but I never spat at him," Martinez told El Chiringuito TV.

"If I had, I would have been sent off, no doubt about that."

ADVERTISEMENT

Acerbi remonstrated with referee Szymon Marciniak before angrily confronting Martinez.

Before play resumed there was a video assistant referee (VAR) review for a potential red card, but no action was taken.

Footage which emerged later appeared to show Martinez spitting in the direction of Acerbi.

Inter won a thrilling tie 4-3 - and 7-6 on aggregate - following extra time, after Acerbi scored a dramatic stoppage-time equaliser to make it 3-3 on the night.

Inter will play Paris St-Germain or Arsenal in the Champions league final, with PSG taking a 1-0 lead into the semi-final second leg in Paris on Wednesday at 20:00 BST.