A fresh angle of Julian Alvarez’s disputed penalty has surfaced, shedding light on the VAR controversy during Atletico Madrid’s dramatic shootout loss to Real Madrid.
On Wednesday, the two Madrid rivals clashed at the Riyadh Air Metropolitano with a Champions League quarter-final spot on the line.
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Real entered the second leg with a 2-1 lead, but their advantage was erased almost instantly when Conor Gallagher scored for Atletico within the opening minute. ..Continue Reading
The match concluded 1-1 on the night, making it 2-2 on aggregate and forcing the tie into penalties. During the shootout, Alvarez scored Atletico’s second penalty, but his celebration was cut short.
VAR determined that the Argentine striker had made contact with the ball twice, which rendered his attempt invalid and officially marked it as a miss.
Real Madrid eventually secured a 4-2 victory in the shootout and progressed to the next round.
After the game, an alternate perspective of Alvarez’s penalty began circulating on social media. The close-up footage seemingly revealed a faint touch from Alvarez’s standing foot, causing the ball to move slightly before his striking foot made contact.
This subtle incident proved pivotal in the dramatic conclusion to the match.
⁉️???? ¿Está bien anulado el penalti de Julián Álvarez?
✅ ????????.
???????? Existe un toque mínimo y casi imperceptible que, de una forma muy leve, mueve el balón antes del golpeo del argentino.
▪️Intervención dificilísima pero pluscuamperfecta de Tomasz Kwiatkowski desde el VAR. pic.twitter.com/z2OKtPVrry
— Archivo VAR (@ArchivoVAR) March 12, 2025
When asked about the incident after the game, Atletico managet Diego Simeone said: “I just saw the image of the penalty. The referee said that when Julián stepped and kicked, he touched the ball with his foot, but the ball didn’t move.
“That’s something to discuss about whether it was a goal or not, but I’m proud of my players.”
He added: “When he plants his foot and kicks, the ball doesn’t move even a little bit.
“But if VAR called it, I’ve never seen a penalty called by VAR, but it’s still valid, and they’ll have seen that he touched it. I want to believe they’ll have seen that he touched it.”
Real Madrid will now look forward to a mouth-watering quarter-final game against Premier League team Arsenal, with the first leg taking place at the Emirates on April 8.
