Julian Alvarez’s penalty kick was controversially ruled out in Atletico Madrid’s shoot-out as they were knocked out by Real Madrid in the Champions League – but why was it disallowed, and did the forward break the rules at all?
Alvarez was second on Atletico’s list of penalty takers in their Champions League last-16 shoot-out after they had beaten city rivals Real 1-0 in the second leg to square the tie 2-2 on aggregate.
The Argentine stepped up and, despite slipping, he smashed his penalty in the roof of the goalpost past a helpless Thibault Courtois. More than a minute later the kick was disallowed following a VAR check which ruled that he had touched the ball(twice) with both feet as he fell.
In the Laws of the Game, in describing the procedure of a penalty shoot-out it is stated: “[A penalty] kick is completed when the ball stops moving, goes out of play or the referee stops play for any offence; the kicker may not play the ball a second time.”
In the end, that rule would prove crucial in the shoot-out as Real advanced 4-2 on spot kicks, with Marcos Llorente and Lucas Vazquez both also missing penalties for either side.
At the time Alvarez’s effort was disallowed, Real’s next taker Federico Valverde had been waiting for his own attempt for some time when referee Szymon Marciniak, who was the man in the middle for Man City’s Champions League final win over Inter in 2023, pointed to both of his own feet and crossed his arms to signal that the previous goal had been disallowed.
Atletico Madrid boss Diego Simeone refused to criticise Marciniak and his team of officials but did question whether there was conclusive proof Alvarez had touched the ball twice – as a number of TV angles appeared to show his standing leg may not have made contact with it at all.
“I just saw the image of the penalty,” he told his post-match press conference. “The referee said that when Julián stepped and kicked, he touched the ball with his foot, but the ball didn’t move. That’s something to discuss about whether it was a goal or not, but I’m proud of my players.”
