Real Madrid progressed to the quarterfinals of the Champions League after they beat city rivals Atletico Madrid on penalties, but not without controversy.
Atleti had taken the lead after just 30 seconds through a Conor Gallagher goal and after a further 119 minutes and 30 seconds of normal and extra time, the tie was level and the Champions League Madrid derby was to be decided on penalties.
Even by penalty shootout standards this was a dramatic shootout. Atleti fans had their hearts in their mouths when Julian Alvarez stepped up for their second penalty after Jude Bellingham had scored to give Real a 2-1 lead. The former Manchester City forward stepped up and slipped as he shot the ball, but luckily for him and Atletico his penalty hit the roof of the net and it was 2-2.
That's what everyone thought but before Fede Valverde could take his penalty for Real referee Szymon Marciniak seemed to have indicated that there was a VAR review and it was deemed that Alvarez had touched the ball twice as he slipped and thus his spot kick would go down as a miss.
Huge drama during the shootout as Julian Alvarez' penalty was chalked off for two touches.
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A Jan Oblak save of Lucas Vazquez' penalty wouldn't be enough for Atletico as Marcos Llorente's effort would rocket off the bar, allowing Antonio Rudiger to score the winning penalty and put Real Madrid into the quarterfinals.
Thierry Henry Believes Football Can Take An Aspect From Rugby For Refereeing
It was incredibly hard to tell if Alvarez touched the ball twice, even days later only certain angles seem to show the Argentine touching it twice, while a lot are inconclusive. However it was explained on CBS' Golazo show by former referee Christina Unkel that the VAR referees had actually used semi-automative technology from the ball to determine that Alvarez had touched the ball twice. The technology is already in place to help VAR determine that last touch when determining offside calls.
Incredible insight from @ChristinaUnkel on @CBSSportsGolazo on that Alvarez double-hit.
She says that because the semi-automated VAR tech has an impact sensor in the ball, the tech can sense every touch, therefore determining that Alvarez would have contacted the ball twice.
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It was a great insight to have after such a confusing scene in the Metropolitano where barely anyone in the stadium seemed to know what was going on. Speaking after Unkel's explanation Thierry Henry spoke aboiut how football can take a page out of rugby's playbook in how to deal with explaining decisions.
We have a lot to take from rugby because it would've been explained, it takes 10 seconds. I got the information from this, double touch this is why the penalty was disallowed, let's move on.
They (rugby referees) explain on a microphone to the crowd. When I was playing what annoyed me was that you never got an explanation from the referee, he looks at you like you can't talk to them. In rugby, they don't go to try and speak to the referee because they know they are going to get an explanation, not only them but the stadium.
If you don't give an explanation it's like when you have a kid and and you don't give them an explanation to why they have to go to sleep, your kid won't take it.
@cbssportsgolazo Thierry Henry believes football needs to improve on the communication of key refereeing decisions 🗣️ #ucl #UCLToday #championsleague #referee #realmadrid #atleticodemadrid #julianalvarez #var #thierryhenry ♬ original sound - CBS Sports Golazo
Henry has clearly taken inspiration from his visit to see the French Rugby side before their trip to Dublin to face Ireland in Round 4 of the Six Nations. With Henry's relationship with the Irish sporting fanbase, it was a visit which almost certainly was done to try catch the attention of the Irish public ahead of the match.
Henry does make a good point however, it feels like now more than ever players fans in the stadium are left more frustrated with referees. It's good that with the introduction of technology that more decisions are being corrected but without proper communication, referees really are leaving themselves exposed to the ire of fans and players.
While rugby too is far from perfect in this aspect, allowing the refs to speak to the crowd has been a welcomed addition to the match-going experience for fans.
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