Atlético de Madrid fans complain about three potential penalties not called in defeat against Arsenal
Although they don't want to use it as an excuse for their weak performance overall.
Arsenal eliminated Atlético de Madrid in the Champions League semi-final, after a rebound was picked by Bukayo Saka at the end of the first half, in an action that resulted in Arsenal's only two shots on target of the match. The match delivered on the low expectations (both teams seemed more focused on avoiding a goal than scoring one), and Atlético de Madrid and its manager Cholo Simeone admitted that they can't shield behind referee decisions as an excuse for their lack of chances (only 5 shots, 2 on target).
However, the Atleti players and Spanish press are stressing on three potential penalties not called against Arsenal that could have changed the course of the match: two potential fouls on Giuliano Simeone by Calafiori and Gabriel Magalhães: VAR did not check the first one and considered there was nothing punishable in the second.
But the most controversial moment was when Calafiori steps on Griezmann, an action that would undoubtedly be called a penalty, but was dismissed because the referee considered that Atleti defender Marc Pubill made a foul before against Gabriel. The belief is that VAR should have called the referee to check on that foul by Pubill, which was much more doubtful, and some believe non-existent as it's not clear if there's even a contact between the two players.
The final straw is that Atleti fans think that the referee designations were unfavourable to them: the VAR referee was Bastian Dankert, the one behind Julián Álvarez's controversial "double touch" in the knockout against Real Madrid last season. And the field referee Daniel Siebert, has officiated three Arsenal matches and the English team won all three of them, but Atleti lost all three matches with Siebert on the pitch. Some are even questioning his nationality (German) posed a conflict of interest as Spain and Germany are competing for the fifth Champions League spot.
The result is that Atlético de Madrid says goodbye to their Champions League chances once again, and Arsenal will wait for either Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain on the final on May 30 in Budapest... knowing that either of them would be clear favourites for the final.
