Atletico Madrid boss Diego Simeone said that he ‘wanted to believe’ that the Maran Alvarez saw the ball twice in the dramatic defeat of last night in the defeat of last night for Real Madrid in the Champions League.
Alvarez was supposed to have kicked the ball on its standing foot and the spot kick was excluded, although it was not immediately clear from the repetitions.
A further look at that penalty from Julán Alvarez 😱 pic.twitter.com/hdyuq0teoe
– Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) March 13, 2025
With Marcos Llorente also missing for Atletico, as well as Lucas Vazquez for Madrid, it was left to Antonio Rudiger to press the winning penalty beyond Jan Oblak to forward Carlo Ancelotti’s men to a quarter -final meeting with Arsenal.
Simeone ask a decision
It was Alvarez’s punishment who dominated the conversation after the game and Simeone was not convinced that it was the right call.
“I have just seen the images, the referee says that Julián will hit the ball with his supporting leg, but the ball is not moving,” he said. “That is debatable, whether it was a goal or not. But I am proud of my players, I am honestly happy, because we have participated in an exemplary way.
‘When Julián kicks [the penalty]The ball doesn’t even move a little. I imagine that they called the VAR and saw that he touched him. I want to believe they have seen that he touched it. ‘
Atleti won 1-0 thanks to the goal of Conor Gallagher in the opening minute, but could not find a second during a game with a lot of energy but little quality.
“Are you afraid because you are being punished?” 🤐
Diego Simeone responds to Julian Alvarez -Drama after the exit of Atletico Madrid.
UEFA2025 pic.twitter.com/2SNDLKSUZE
– Sky Sports News (@SkySportsnews) March 13, 2025
Goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois from Madrid thought that the right decision was made with regard to Alvarez’s Spot kick and both he and his teammates were quickly making their point on referee Szymon Marciniak on the field.
“I felt that he touched the ball twice and I told the referee,” the Belgian said. “It’s not easy to see that.”
However, he was not impressed by questioning Simeone about the integrity of the VAR.
“It is clear to UEFA. I am sick of this victimization, always crying for things like this. Referees do not want to benefit from one team or the other in Spain or in Europe, it was clear to them. With the technology, in the VAR space, they saw it clearly, they have many cameras and many images. “
