Atletico Madrid boss Diego Simeone has not urged people to “be” afraid to question the decision to exclude Julian Alvarez's penalty during the shoot-out defeat against Real Madrid in the Champions League.
Real will now be confronted with Arsenal in the next round after beating Atletico 4-2 on spot -kicks, but the result is clouded by controversy after Alvarez -who was second on the list of penalty levels -his efforts of 12 Yards from 12 Yards did not allow after a VAR check.
The Argentina succeeded in channeling his efforts under the bar, despite the slipping, but saw it excluded more than a minute later when VAR stated that he had touched the ball with both feet.
It was a decision that Simeone did not agree, after he had asked himself whether or not there was clear evidence to suggest that Alvarez had made contact with the ball twice.
He said in his press conference after the game: “Have you seen it? Did you see it? Did he touch the ball or not?
'Don't be afraid to speak. Are you afraid because you are being punished? If you are scared, say nothing. Hold your hand if you think Julian is correct twice. Nobody? Nobody. Okay.
“To be honest, I will not lie to you, because I will be eliminated as we have been, is not easy to accept.”
Simeone continued: “I just saw the image of the penalty. The referee said that when Julian stepped and kicked, he touched the ball with his foot, but the ball did not move. That is something to discuss if it was a goal or not, but I am proud of my players.
“When he plants and kicks his foot, the ball does not even move a little bit. But if VAR called it, I have never seen a penalty that is called by VAR, but it is still valid, and they will have seen that he touched it. I want to have seen that he has touched it.”
Ancelotti: Alvarez decision was correct
The real boss Carlo Ancelotti also commented on the shoot-out, which came after his side 1-0 in the second stage to bring the 2-2, where he agreed with the decision to rule the fine.
“I think they had already discovered it at the VAR when we hesitate. We didn't warn them, at least because I didn't know. I saw the repetition and I think he touches it with his left foot, the second touch.”
Oblak: the referee must be respected, but we are out of luck
Atletico's Marcos Llorente, as well as Lucas Vazquez for the opposite side in Madrid, also went to miss, but it was the shot of Antonio Rudiger who squeezed the hands of goalkeeper Jan Oblak to fire his side in the quarterfinals.
Speaking after the game, Oblak revealed that the decision of the referee should be “respected”, but emphasized how much a “pity” it was to bow in this way from Europe Elite competition.
“The referee's decisions must be respected. I have not seen it, but it is probably true,” he said.
“It's such a shame because [Thibaut] Courtois went to the other side and the ball would have entered, but this is football and this is how bad luck we have been. “
His counterpart and former Atletico player Courtois, who claimed that he advised referee Szymon Marciniak to revise the penalty after it had gone, was less sympathetic after the match stated that it was “bad luck” for their rivals.
He said: “I felt that he touched the ball twice and I told the referee. It is not easy to see that. It was a bit bad luck for them.
“With the technology, in the VAR room, they saw it clearly, they have many cameras and many images.”
Lenglet: I've never seen anything like that
Atletico defender Clement Lenglet did not take a penalty in the shoot-out after he was replaced by Robin Le Normand in the 91st minute.
After viewing the sidelines, the 29-year-old explained that he had “never seen” a decision like this in football, but just like Oblak, he respected the choice of referees.
“We have not seen the repetition, but what happened is easy to understand,” Lenglet said.
“This is the first time I see a referee who whistles things like this. But if it is the rules, we have to respect it. But it is not funny because we have scored 4 punishments, the same as she, so in the end this is a draw.”
What the Spanish media said
SPORT
In the images you can clearly see how the left foot drags through the slip and what is crystal clear is that it does not graze the ball when it shoots with the right foot.
And before. Well, you can't see at any time that he didn't give it a touch either.
In any case, in the VAR, they had a better picture than this – something that seems unlikely – or the referee of the match, the Polish Marciniak was very poorly advised from the VAR room.
There is no picture that definitely clarifies something why they should not have intervened in such a decisive action.
When
It just happens that Szymon Marciniak experienced the same situation, but it had hardly any consequences: it was in the final of the World Cup 2022, in which Argentina was named world champion by beating France in the Penalty Shootout.
The first goal of the game was scored by Messi from the penalty spot.
The Argentinian carried out his shot and, if you look closely at the piece, the ball passes and touches his right foot. Marciniak admitted the goal …
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