There was a moment of confusion and controversy during Wednesday’s Champions League shootout between Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid when Julian Alvarez’s penalty was cancelled.
Atletico, who had lost the first leg 2-1 at the Bernabeu, managed to level the tie with Conor Gallagher’s early goal. After 120 minutes of play without further goals, the match was decided by a penalty shootout.
The turning point in the shootout came with the fourth penalty, taken by Alvarez. With Real Madrid leading 2-1, Alvarez slipped as he struck the ball. Initially, it seemed that his shot had counted as it flew into the roof of the net. However, VAR reviewed the replay and identified that Alvarez had made contact with the ball using his standing leg first, followed by his other leg—resulting in a double kick.
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According to the rules, this is an illegal action during a penalty, and the goal was ruled out. Instead of the score being 2-2, it reverted to 2-1 in Real Madrid’s favor, with Fede Valverde then converting to make it 3-1.
Angel Correa scored for Atletico to make it 3-2, but both Lucas Vazquez and Marcos Llorente missed their penalties for Real and Atletico, respectively. This set the stage for Antonio Rudiger to step up and seal a 4-2 win for Real Madrid, securing their place in the quarter-finals against Arsenal.
