Topics: Atletico Madrid, Champions League, Fan Reactions, Football, Real Madrid, VAR, Julian Alvarez
There was huge controversy as Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid's Champions League clash went all the way to penalties.
Heading into the second leg, Real were leading 2-1 but saw their advantage wiped out inside the first minute after Conor Gallagher netted to make it 1-0.
Los Blancos were awarded a penalty in the second half after Clement Lenglet fouled Kylian Mbappe, but Vinicius Junior failed to convert as he put his spot kick high and wide.
In the end, the match ended 1-0 on the night and 2-2 on aggregate.
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In extra time, both teams huffed and puffed to score the all-important goal but failed to do so, meaning a penalty shootout was needed to decide the winner of the tie.
During the shootout, Julian Alvarez took Atletico's second penalty and scored.
However, there was a hugely controversial moment as VAR ruled out the Argentine's penalty for double contact.
Replays showed that Alvarez appeared to touch the ball twice as he slipped when making contact with the ball.
In the end, the penalty was ruled out, and it went down as a miss for Atletico.
Eventually, Antonio Rudiger scored the decisive penalty to clinch a 4-2 shootout victory.
Reacting on social media, fans were wondering why Alvarez was not allowed to retake his spot kick.
One fan said: "How the f*** does he not get to retake that penalty? It was a slip... hardly intentional. If the keeper comes off the line it gets retaken?"
Another tweeted: "Check the replay but I don’t understand why he wasn’t allowed to retake."
A third fan added: "Surely just retake the pen then. Kinda ruins it cancelling it."
Someone else wrote: "I swear that has always been a retake?????"
Speaking on TNT Sports, former Madrid player Steve McManaman said: "Sometimes the best team doesn't win. Sometimes you need a huge chunk of luck to go through. Real Madrid have had luck in spades tonight. Julian Alvarez slipping, an irregular kick disallowed. Antonio Rudiger sneaking in the last kick. Just wow. They got away with it.
"You can see why Atletico Madrid feel like the underdogs. They have given their all and they are out."
Real will now take on Premier League giants Arsenal in the quarter-final of the Champions League.
