The Champions League semi-final tie between Atlético de Madrid and Arsenal was the opposite of the match the previous day between PSG and Bayern Munich: 1-1, both goals by penalties, but still created suspense before the deciding match next week as Arsenal was denied a penalty, with some outlets in England calling it a "robbery".
It happened in the 78th minute, when substitute Eberechi Eze went to the ground after a challenge by David Hancko. Despite being foot-on-foot contact in the box, the referee Makkelie decided to overturn the penalty, leaving Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta incredibly furious: "There is clear contact. You make the decision, you cannot overturn that decision when you have to look at it 13 times. It's completely unacceptable at this level".
Arteta described the VAR decision to overturn the penalty as "completely unacceptable" and said that it was against the rules and changed the court of the tie, leaving the door open to the club to protest the decision to UEFA (via Sky Sports).
However, Arteta accepted that the decision to grant Atleti a penalty after a handball by Ben White, after the ball had been deflected by White's knee, even if those kind of handballs are not called in the Premier League. "They have been consistent with that. If you are going to give a penalty for this kind of thing you have to accept it."
Some pundits think this penalty was called against Atleti because a similar penalty was also called against Bayern Munich the previous day, a handball by Alphonse Davies after the ball had been deflected by the body. These kinds of penalties are usually not called in the Premier League, but UEFA is stricter with the handball rules: if the ball changes trajectory, it's a penalty, specially if the arm is in an unnatural position, even if it's close to the body.
