Topics: Atletico Madrid, Kylian Mbappe, Real Madrid, Julian Alvarez, Champions League
The referee involved in the Julian Alvarez penalty controversy has broken his silence to comment on a Kylian Mbappe claim made.
Atletico Madrid were eliminated by rivals Real Madrid on penalties after a 2-2 draw on aggregate in the Champions League round of 16.
Antonio Rudiger squeezed in the winner to make it 4-2 on spot-kicks but the pivotal moment in the shoot-out involved former Manchester City forward Alvarez.
Alvarez, a regular penalty taker, smashed the ball into the roof of the net despite slipping over as he took the strike.
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However, a VAR check uncovered a double touch as Alvarez had inadvertently kicked the ball with both feet.
In line with Law 14.1 of the Laws of the Game, the penalty was disallowed and went down as a miss.
Real players, including Kylian Mbappe, had spotted the unintentional infringement and appealed to the officials.
There had been suggestions that cameras and sensors were used to find the double touch but journalist Miguel Delaney reported that it was entirely a VAR call.
Szymon Marciniak, the man in the middle, has now broken his silence on the incident and denied claims that Mbappe informed him about the potential double touches - stressing that he had made the observation himself.
“This is completely untrue. I was the one who informed the VAR referees that there was a 99% chance that Alvarez touched the ball twice, and they checked it thoroughly," he said in a statement to Win Win, as per AS.
"It is absolutely false that Mbappé told me anything about the two touches.”
Marcinak, who officiated the 2022 World Cup final, added: "To be honest, I have never faced a situation like this in my refereeing career, but the players know the rules."
Though the rules were applied correctly, the controversy caused outrage and following contact with Atletico and a priceless reaction from Diego Simeone, UEFA proceeded to issue a statement where they confirmed they would hold discussions with the relevant bodies and decide whether the rule be changed in circumstances where the double touch was not intended.
"Atletico de Madrid enquired with UEFA over the incident, which led to the disallowance of the kick from the penalty mark taken by Julian Alvarez at the end of yesterday’s UEFA Champions League match against Real Madrid," a statement read.
"Although minimal, the player made contact with the ball using his standing foot before kicking it, as shown in the attached video clip. Under the current rule (Laws of the Game, Law 14.1), the VAR had to call the referee signalling that the goal should be disallowed.
"UEFA will enter discussions with FIFA and IFAB to determine whether the rule should be reviewed in cases where a double touch is clearly unintentional."
UEFA also shared slow-mo, close-up footage of the minimal second touch Alvarez made with his penalty.
After the narrow victory, 15-time European champions Real will take on Arsenal in the Champions League quarter-finals.
