Julian Alvarez controversial penalty: Why was Atletico Madrid's goal disallowed against Real Madrid?

Julian Alvarez controversial penalty: Why was Atletico Madrid's goal disallowed against Real Madrid? (AP Photo)

Like dal and chawal or butter and bread, Atletico Madrid and misery in the Champions League/European Cup are inseparable. The latest sorry chapter was inked on Wednesday night when they lost 4-2 in a penalty shootout to Real Madrid, their bitter crosstown rivals. Having won 1-0 on the night, courtesy a Conor Gallagher goal after just 27 seconds, Atletico saw their hopes disintegrate thanks in part to the video assistant referee (VAR) ruling out Julian Alvarez’s effort in the shootout.

What exactly happened?

Alvarez appeared to brush against the ball with his standing foot before the other propelled the ball past Thibaut Courtois in the Real goal. His ‘miss’ and Marcos Llorente blasting over the bar turned out to be the difference in a game where Real also missed a penalty in normal time, with Vinicius Junior skying one high into the stands. Kylian Mbappe, the regular penalty-taker, was apparently suffering with a broken toenail and opted not to take it.

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What does the rule say?

Article 14.1 of the International Football Association Board (IFAB) laws is clear though. “The kicker must not play the ball again until it has touched another player,” it says.

Atletico Madrid’s unending Champions League misery

In their first appearance in the European Cup final in 1974, Atleti were seconds away from victory in extra time when Hans-Georg Schwarzenbeck popped up with an equaliser for Bayern Munich. The Germans would win the replay 4-0 two days later. Four decades later, Sergio Ramos’s tying goal for Real in the 2014 final – the clock showed 92:48 – was so late that he has the number 93 tattooed on his head. Real would score three unanswered goals in extra time.

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In 2016, Atleti again fell to Real in the final, this time to the agony of penalties. And after yet another harrowing reverse, Diego Simeone, Atletico’s coach, could barely contain his anger at the decision. “Did you see him touching the ball twice?” he asked reporters afterwards. “Please, whoever was present in the stadium and saw him touching the ball twice, the ball moving, please come forward and raise your hand. I don't see anybody with their hand raised, so that's all I have to say. Next question.”

This was Atletico’s fifth exit against Real in the Champions League’s knockout rounds. Both teams, along with Barcelona, are locked in a three-way tussle for La Liga supremacy, and it remains to be seen how this body blow will affect Atletico in the domestic title race.