Thibaut Courtois Fires Back at Diego Simione: Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois hits back to Atletico Madrid manager Diego Simeone’s comments over the controversial disallowed penalty in the Real Madrid vs Atletico Madrid derby in the UEFA Champions League Round of 16.
Real Madrid won the match 4-2 on penalties after Conor Callagher tied the fixture with a first minute goal. Real Madrid had won the first leg 2-1.
As the second leg ended with Atletico making it a 2-2 draw, the match extended into the penalties and that’s where the drama happened.
What Happened?
In the penalties, the referee disallowed Atletico Madrid’s Julian Alvarez’s penalty as it seemed to have a double touch. Los Colchoneros manager Diego Simione didn’t take this well as he was talking to the media in the post-match presser.
“I’ve just seen the images, the referee says Julián touches the ball with his supporting leg, but the ball doesn’t move. That’s debatable, whether it was a goal or not. But I’m proud of my players, I’m honestly happy, because we competed in an exemplary way,” said Simione
“When Julián kicks [the penalty], the ball doesn’t even move a bit,” Simeone said. “I imagine that they called the VAR and saw that he touched it. I want to believe that they’ll have seen that he touched it,” he added.
Thibaut Courtois Fires Back at Diego Simione
Hearing Simione’s comments, Los Blancos goalkeeper Courtois fired back at the rival manager by saying:
“Simeone’s words that it was unfair to disallow Julián Álvarez’s penalty? I think UEFA sees it clearly. I’m tired of this victimhood, of always crying about things like this.”
Real Madrid’s legendary midfielder Luca Modric also commented on the controversy.
“I think the same happened once to Griezmann. I don’t remember when, but it’s the rule. I don’t remember when, it wasn’t a penalty shootout, just a simple penalty,” Modric said as reported by Marca.
Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti claimed that Julian Alvarez has seemingly touched the ball with the left foot before hitting with the right foot.
“It looks to me like Julian Alvarez touches it with his left foot. [Penalties] are a lottery, heads or tails. It came up heads today. Atletico go out with their heads high.”
With the win Ral Madrid cruised to the quarter final and will meet Premier League giants Arsenal.
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