Atletico Coach Still Questions Referee's Decision On Julian Alvarez's Penalty

Diego Simeone still did not accept the referee's decision about Julian Alvarez's penalty (Instagram/@athleticodemadrid).

JAKARTA - Atletico Madrid manager Diego Simeone is still questioning the referee's decision to annull Julian Alvarez's crucial penalty.

He insisted the "ball didn't move", but VAR decided the forward had kicked the ball twice.

The moment occurred in the second leg of the Champions League last 16 at Metropolitano, Thursday, March 13, 2025, early morning WIB.

The defeat in the 2-4 penalty shootout against Real Madrid made Atletico fail to advance to the next round, after successfully equalizing the 2-2 aggregate after winning 1-0 to two extra rounds.

In the penalty shootout, Kylian Mbappe, Jude Bellingham, Fede Valverde, and Antonio Rudiger all scored for Real Madrid.

However, Alvarez's penalty was disallowed after VAR judged that the Argentine international touched the ball with both legs as he slipped while kicking the ball.

"I just saw the picture, the referee said Julian touched the ball with his buffer legs, but the ball didn't move," said Simeone.

"That can still be debated, whether it's a goal or not. However, I'm proud of my players, I'm really happy, because we competed in an exemplary way," he said again.

Atletico actually dominated most of the match. No wonder, Simeone said he was calm with the result because the team had given everything.

"When Julian kicked (penalty), the ball didn't even move a bit. I imagined they were calling VAR and seeing that he was touching it."

"I want to believe that they will see that he touches it," Simeone said.

Simeone then repeatedly challenged reporters at a press conference to raise their hands if they felt Alvarez's penalty should have been disallowed.

Responding to Simeone's statement which was still against the referee's decision, Real Madrid reacted.

Los Blancos goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois firmly defended the justice. Moreover, with VAR technology everything becomes clearer.

"I felt he touched the ball twice and I told the referee. It wasn't easy to see. It was a bit of a bad luck."

"For UEFA, that's clear. I'm fed up with these victims, always crying about things like this."

"The referee doesn't want to benefit one team or another in Spain or in Europe, for them it's clear."

"With the technology, in the VAR room they see it clearly, they have lots of cameras and lots of pictures," said Thibaut Courtois.

With three money with Courtois, Manager Carlo Ancelotti also supports the referee's decision.

"For me, it looks like he touched it with his left foot. (Penalty) is a lottery, head or tail. It appears head today. Atletico come out with an upright head," said Carlo Ancelotti.

Apart from that, Ancelotti revealed that he plans to let young striker Endrick take a fifth and decisive penalty. However, the Italian coach then replaced with Rudiger.

"We had doubts between Endrick and Rudiger. I saw Endrick's face and I thought Rudiger was better!" said Ancelotti.

Real Madrid will now face Arsenal in the Champions League quarter-finals with the first leg on April 8, 2025, and the second leg on April 16, 2025.