While at the time it seemed almost impossible to make out, and from several angles on replay, it appears Atletico Madrid star Julian Alvarez did brush the ball with his standing foot before firing his penalty during the shootout on Wednesday night. Several Real Madrid stars demonstrated eagle-eyed vision in the moment though.
The decision to disallow the goal would ultimately cost Atletico Madrid their place in the Champions League quarter-finals, as Los Blancos prepare to face Arsenal after the international break. It may not have transpired that way though if it were not for several Real Madrid stars drawing the attention of the officials to it. Rodrygo Goes explained the incident from his perspective.
“It was funny, I was on the bench with my teammates watching him and the way the ball came out of his boots was very strange, as if he had touched it twice,” he told TNT Sports Brasil, as quoted by Cadena SER.
UMA CLASSIFICAÇÃO NO SUFOCO! 🥵⚪ Após a vitória suada nos pênaltis, Rodrygo falou com nossa @tatimantovani sobre a disputa de pênaltis, deu sua opinião sobre a cobrança de Julián Álvarez e aproveitou para falar sobre o duelo entre Argentina e Brasil, que está vindo por aí! 🔥… pic.twitter.com/cJr6QsOdNq
— TNT Sports BR (@TNTSportsBR) March 12, 2025
“We had a camera behind us and they started shouting: ‘Two touches, two touches.’ And we started to pressure the referee, he saw it and sure enough, two touches. I’d never seen that before.”
Meanwhile footage also emerged of Kylian Mbappe signalling ‘two touches’ just after the penalty, seeming to pick up on the movement too.
Oh just saw that it was Kylian who noticed that Álvarez had touched the ball twice and pointed it out to his teammates and the referee pic.twitter.com/FRxcK7YN5I
— ⭑ (@myreactt) March 13, 2025
Goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois also pointed out the incident to the assistant referee at the time.
“The moment he shoots, I think he hits it twice. I told the referee and then the linesman. He told me they’re watching him, because everyone is watching him,” he told Marca.
“It’s not easy to see, and it’s bad luck for them. Then Correa’s was bad luck for me, I couldn’t get it out. We didn’t play our best game, but we’ve come through, and that’s what’s important.”
Courtois would go on to express much less sympathy for Atletico thereafter. While the footage looked inconclusive, UEFA have since released the view from their camera, and an official explanation of the decision which seems somewhat clearer. It is impossible to know whether the VAR was reviewing before the officials on the pitch were alerted, but it could have made the difference.
