Atletico Madrid head coach Diego Simeone has come out to blast Uefa based on the penalty his star player Julian Alvarez played against Real Madrid. The manager insisted that the penalty should not have been disallowed. Adding to it he said never in his life has he ever seen VAR checking a penalty.
Alvarez took Atletico’s second penalty in a dramatic shootout after his team defeated Madrid 1-0 in the second leg. The 1-0 made the scores 2-2 on aggregate and the two sides were forced into extra time. After complete 30 minutes of goalless play in the extra time, they headed for penalty.
The former Manchester City striker slipped while taking his kick but the ball still went high into the back of the net. Before Madrid’s Federico Valverde could take the next penalty, though, a VAR check took place. Polish video assistant referee Tomasz Kwiatkowski ruled that Alvarez’s standing foot had touched the ball.
Alvarez’s second foot touching it before his second took the shot means its a double kick which is foul. The result of the VAR check means the goal was cancelled and it went down as a miss. That gave Madrid the advantage and they made it count to win the shootout 4-2.
In his post-match press conference Diego Simeone who had earlier stated that they will silent Real Madrid before the game could not take it. He questioned the decision to disallow the goal.
Diego Simeone Diagrees with UEFA VAR Penalty Decision
He said: “I’ve just seen the images, the referee says Julian touches the ball with his supporting leg, but the ball doesn’t move.”
Simeone also said:“That’s debatable, whether it was a goal or not. But I’m proud of my players, I’m honestly happy, because we competed in an exemplary way.” “When Julian kicks [the penalty], the ball doesn’t even move a bit. I imagine that they called the VAR and saw that he touched it. I want to believe that they’ll have seen that he touched it.”
Simeone then told journalists who were in the room: “Raise your hand, anyone who saw Julian touch it twice. Who is going to raise their hand? Nobody has raised their hand.”
It is now six knockouts from six meetings against their rivals Real Madrid including two in the final in 2014 and 2016. Real Madrid will now take on English Premier League side Arsenal in the quarter-finals.
