Almeida erupts after Atleti's KO: we played UEFA, not Arsenal | OneFootball

Madrid mayor José Luis Martínez-Almeida strongly criticized UEFA after Atlético de Madrid were knocked out by Arsenal in the Champions League semi-finals.

According to the mayor, the refereeing in the second leg was decisive in the final outcome, suggesting a "predetermined intention" to harm the rojiblanco side. 

"When I saw the draw, I thought we had got Arsenal and I was wrong, we had to play against UEFA, and UEFA has made it clear that it did not want Atlético de Madrid to be in the Champions League final," said the leader of the Spanish capital.

Almeida expressed his outrage over the appointment of Daniel Seibert for the match, pointing to a conflict of interest because of the battle between Spain and Germany for the fifth European spot. "It is incomprehensible that they appointed a German referee when Spain and Germany are competing for the fifth Champions League place," he said.

The refereeing decisions under scrutiny again

One of the most controversial points highlighted was the penalty not awarded to Giuliano Simeone. Almeida complained about the lack of clear images in the broadcast of the striker's alleged offside.

In his words, "it is incomprehensible that there is not a single replay of Giuliano's offside when it was a stonewall penalty. We later saw on social media that it was not offside and that he came from his own half. It was not offside and they did not want to admit it."

The criticism also focused on the amount of stoppage time added. "It is clear proof that the referee wanted that match to end as soon as possible and for Arsenal to go to Budapest rather than Atlético de Madrid," Almeida said.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.

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