Atletico Madrid manager Diego Simeone hit out at the decision to cancel Julian Alvarez’s penalty in the UEFA Champions League last 16 penalty shootout loss to rivals Real Madrid.
The record winners of the competition triumphed 4-2 on penalties following a 2-2 aggregate scoreline – as Alvarez slipped while taking his own and VAR ruled it out for a judged double touch.
“The referee said when Julian got to the penalty spot he touched the ball with his standing foot, but the ball did not move,” Simeone said to reporters.
“But beyond that, which now just serves to argue about whether it should have counted or not, I am proud of my players, I am happy, truly.
“Why? Because we competed in an exemplary way. And yes, we could not beat Real Madrid in the Champions League, sure, we could not, but they had a really bad time [against us] again.”
The Atletico gaffer said he wanted to believe the officials got the penalty decision right.
“I’ve never seen a penalty where they’ve called the VAR, but well, they would have seen that he touched it, I want to believe, I want to believe they saw he touched it.”
The Argentine also seeked validation from the members of the press present in the news conference.
“Raise your hand, anyone who saw Julian touch it twice, who is going to raise their hand? Nobody has raised their hand,” shouted Simeone.
