Carragher rips into ‘stain on Champions League’ after Arsenal v Atletico in passionate rant | OneFootball

Jamie Carragher has torn into UEFA after Arsenal’s 1-1 draw with Atlético Madrid on Wednesday, hitting out at what he believes is a “stain” on the competition.

A pair of penalties from Viktor Gyokeres and Julian Alvarez means Arsenal will be strong favourites to reach the Champions League final when they meet in the second leg at the Emirates next week.

Mikel Arteta was “incredibly fuming” after the Gunners were denied a second spot-kick when referee Danny Makkelie consulted his pitch-side monitor late in the game and decided to overturn his decision to point to the spot when Eberechi Eze went down in the box.

But Carragher was far more aggrieved by the award of Atletico’s penalty after a shot deflected off Ben White’s leg and on to his arm.

A similar decision was made in the other semi-final between Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich on Tuesday and Carragher has had enough of it.

He told CBS Sports: “What’s he supposed to do? He has fallen down trying to block a shot. It’s winding me up! The thought of a Champions League final being decided on that…

“I’m not having it. It’s not right, it’s not fair. I just think it’s gone far too far. Don’t get me wrong, as soon as I saw the incident, I knew it was going to be a penalty. This is the Champions League way of doing it.”

A stain on the Champions League

“But honestly, if we go to Budapest and someone wins the Champions League on one of these ridiculous handballs, it’s a stain on the Champions League. The Champions League is the best competition in the world by a mile. The World Cup can’t come close, no domestic division can come close. The only thing letting it down is this.

”You’re just thinking this is ridiculous. You’ve got the best players in the world competing for the biggest trophy they can win in club football. And something like that is going to decide a game at this level. It’s not right. It’s not fair on the players. Nobody likes it.”

Asked by punditry colleague Thierry Henry what Carragher wanted to see in the competition going forwards, he replied: “It’s just a bit of common sense.

“The first thing that would stop the two penalties we saw the last two nights, if something hits another part of your body and then hits your arm, it’s not a penalty!”