What furious Diego Simeone said after Julian Alvarez penalty controversy | OneFootball

Atletico Madrid boss left seething after huge shootout decision as Real Madrid advance in Champions League drama

Diego Simeone was left furious after his Atletico Madrid side were ousted from the Champions League by Real Madrid amid massive penalty shootout drama surrounding Julian Alvarez.

Spot-kicks were needed to settle the heavyweight last-16 tie between the Spanish rivals after a 1-0 second-leg win for hosts Atletico at the Metropolitano Stadium that saw England midfielder Conor Gallagher net their fastest-ever Champions League goal after just 27 seconds.

That swift effort levelled up proceedings at 2-2 on aggregate after Real Madrid had won the initial clash 2-1 at the Santiago Bernabeu last week thanks to Brahim Diaz’s stylish second-half finish that came after Rodrygo and Alvarez had exchanged brilliant strikes before the interval.

Neither rival could find another goal to win the tie through extra time on Wednesday night despite numerous chances being created by both and Real star Vinicius Jr smashing a penalty over the crossbar in the 70th minute.

That led to a tense shootout, with Kylian Mbappe and Alexander Sorloth both successfully dispatching their respective spot-kicks before an episode of major controversy involving Atletico striker Alvarez, who slipped as he was taking his penalty but still managed to fire high beyond Thibaut Courtois and into the roof of the net.

However, VAR picked up and informed referee Szymon Marciniak that the former Manchester City frontman had accidentally touched the ball twice, leading to the effort being chalked off.

Jude Bellingham, Federico Valverde and Antonio Rudiger would all go on to score their penalties for Real Madrid as the shootout continued, with Lucas Vazquez’s miss not mattering in the end as only Angel Correa then netted for Atletico, with Courtois saving from Marcos Llorente.

The decision to rule out Alvarez’s penalty caused a storm on social media and left Atletico boss Simeone seething.

"The referee said when Julian got to the penalty spot he touched the ball with his standing foot, but the ball did not move," the animated Argentine said in a fiery post-match press conference.

"I've never seen a penalty where they've called the VAR, but well, they would have seen that he touched it. I want to believe they saw he touched it.

"Did you see him touching the ball twice? 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."

However, Real Madrid’s players were convinced that Alvarez had touched the ball twice and Simeone’s Los Blancos counterpart Carlo Ancelotti believes the officials were right to rule it out.

“They detected it. When we realised there was this doubt they had already detected it on VAR,” he said.

“I saw it, I think he touches it with his left foot, a second touch.”