Julian Alvarez: Why Atletico Madrid Star’s Penalty Was Cancelled Against Real Madrid

• Real Madrid have knocked city rivals Atletico Madrid out of the UEFA Champions League yet again
• Madrid beat Atletico 4-2 on penalties after a 2-2 aggregate scoreline after 210 minutes over two legs
• One of the talking points of the match was Julian Alvarez’s penalty getting disallowed during the shootout

Real Madrid have knocked Atletico Madrid out of the UEFA Champions League, and one of the talking points was Julian Alvarez’s penalty, which was disallowed during the shootout.

Both sides battled it out for 210 minutes over two legs, and nothing could separate them with a 2-2 aggregate scoreline, forcing the game into a penalty shootout.

Antonio Rudiger and the video assistant referee’s intervention saved Real Madrid’s blushes after Lucas Vazquez missed his kick to put Atletico in the driver's seat.

Why Alvarez's penalty was disallowed

A controversy ensued after Atletico’s second taker during the shootout, Julian Alvarez, saw his penalty disallowed after a VAR review, which has left fans questioning why.

The Argentine forward slipped as he hit it, and a VAR review revealed that he had inadvertently touched the ball twice, resulting in the goal being disallowed.

According to IFAB’s rule 14 on penalty kicks:

“The kicker must not play the ball again until it has touched another player.”

It was disallowed because the rules state that penalties can not strike both feet. His spot-kick hit his left foot before going in.

Vazquez missed afterwards for Madrid, before former Madrid star Marcos Llorente missed for ATM, and Antonio Rudiger sealed the win for Madrid.

Simeone reacts to disallowed penalty

Atletico boss Diego Simeone arrived at the post-match conference furious and asked the journalists if anyone saw that the former Manchester City striker touched the ball twice.

“To anyone here: raise your hand if you saw that Julián touched the ball twice in the penalty. Come on! And? Ready? Nobody raises theirs. Another question,” he told Diario Sport.

"I've never seen VAR call to review a penalty in a shootout, but well, they would have seen that he touched it. I want to believe, I want to believe they saw he touched it.”

According to El Larguero, the 2022 FIFA World Cup winner denied having the feeling of touching the ball twice when he took his spot kick.

“I didn't feel anything [about touching the ball with both feet],” he said.

Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti and goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois claimed the referee made the right decision, with the Belgian claiming he had a feeling the striker touched it, and he told the referee.

Next for the 15-time winners in the UCL quarter final is a date with English Premier League side Arsenal.

Alvarez’s disallowed penalty a harsh decision - Pundit

In the aftermath of Atletico Madrid’s Champions League defeat to Real Madrid, sports pundit Alvin Jesutobi has weighed in on the controversial VAR decision that disallowed Julian Alvarez’s penalty during the shootout.

“We know how Real Madrid used to enjoy favourable referees' decisions at the UEFA,” Jesutobi told Legit.ng.

He acknowledged that double touches in penalty shootouts are rare but argued that disallowing the goal under such high stakes was a harsh call.

“The VAR decision feels harsh given the high stakes. I would say the decision shouldn't have been to disallow it, but the difference is that Real Madrid is their opponent," he said.

Jesutobi predicted that the call would remain a topic of debate and emphasised the need for more effective use of VAR in crucial moments.

“This will fuel debate for a while, but the VAR should be used effectively to avoid this," he concluded.

Updated 2025 Ballon d'Or rankings

Legit.ng analysed the updated 2025 Ballon d'Or rankings after the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 games were completed late on Wednesday evening.

The outcome dented Mohamed Salah's chances of winning after Paris Saint-Germain eliminated Liverpool, while Barcelona’s Raphinha got a massive boost.

Editorial assistant Ololade Olatimehin provided exclusive commentary from a sports pundit for this report.