UEFA confirms correct decision made to disallow Julian Alvarez penalty after Atletico Madrid enquiry
Updated 13/03/2025 at 17:06 GMT
UEFA has confirmed that the decision to disallow Julian Alvarez's penalty in Atletico Madrid's shoot-out defeat to Real Madrid was correct. Atletico lost the shoot-out 4-2 after a 2-2 draw across both legs to crash out of the UEFA Champions League, as city rivals Real advanced to a quarter-final against Arsenal. Diego Simeone later fumed over the decision in his post-match press conference.
‘Surely not!’ – VAR rules out Alvarez penalty in shoot-out for double touch
Video credit: TNT Sports
UEFA released a statement on Thursday confirming it was the correct decision to disallow Julian Alvarez's penalty in Atletico Madrid's last-16 penalty shoot-out defeat to Real Madrid.
The former Manchester City striker stepped up second for Diego Simeone's side and netted his penalty despite losing his footing. He thought he had levelled the shoot-out at 2-2 before a VAR check deemed him to have made contact with the ball with his supporting leg.
IFAB rules state that from a penalty, "the kicker must not play the ball again until it has touched another player," and UEFA said that despite contact being "minimal", Alvarez "made contact with the ball using his standing foot".
It followed an enquiry made to the governing body by Atletico, and UEFA said it will "enter discussions with FIFA and IFAB" over whether the penalty rule should be "reviewed".
A UEFA statement published on Thursday said: "Atletico de Madrid enquired with UEFA over the incident, which led to the disallowance of the kick from the penalty mark taken by Julian Alvarez at the end of yesterday’s UEFA Champions League match against Real Madrid.
"Although minimal, the player made contact with the ball using his standing foot before kicking it, as shown in the attached video clip. Under the current rule (Laws of the Game, Law 14.1), the VAR had to call the referee signalling that the goal should be disallowed.
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'Did anyone see Julian touch the ball twice?' - Simeone rants after Alvarez penalty decision
Video credit: SNTV
"UEFA will enter discussions with FIFA and IFAB to determine whether the rule should be reviewed in cases where a double touch is clearly unintentional."
Jan Oblak almost spared Alvarez's disallowed strike from being decisive in the last-16 tie, saving from Lucas Vazquez to give Atletico the chance to level the shoot-out at 3-3.
Marcos Llorente, however, sent his spot-kick crashing against the woodwork, with Antonio Rudiger slotting home the subsequent penalty to send Real into a quarter-final against Arsenal.
Simeone later fumed over the decision in his post-match press conference, urging journalists to raise their hands if they saw Alvarez make contact with the ball with his standing leg.
Real boss Carlo Ancelotti, meanwhile, felt the verdict was fair on review, while goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois said he is "sick" of Atletico's "victimhood".
The defeat for Atletico was yet another setback against their city rivals in the Champions League, now having lost in each of the last 16, quarter-final, semi-final, and final against Real since the 2014/15 season.
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