CONTROVERSY in the Madrid Derby, are we really surprised?

Alvarez's double touch penalty crashes Atletico out of Champions League. Should it have stood?

Real Madrid and the Champions League have a special relationship. Somehow, they always seem to progress in this competition, one way or another. This week, they progressed against Atletico Madrid on penalties, and the game had a quick start as Connor Gallagher became the first Englishman to score in a Madrid derby when he scored in the 28th second of the game. Despite this opener, the next 119 minutes of normal time and extra time would result in no goals despite clear chances for both sides.

Julian Alvarez and Courtois seemed to have an attacker vs keeper battle for the entire game, with Courtois making save after save to deny the Argentinian. Alvarez had shots up close, from an angle, from distance, and seemingly, from every direction, but Courtois was equal to them.

After an excellent dribble by Mbappe in the 68th minute, he snuck into the box and brilliantly won a penalty. It seemed like the whole footballing world knew what was about to happen. Mbappe would take and score the penalty, and Madrid would win the tie on aggregate. But that was not what happened. Vinicius, who had been silent for the majority of the game, took the penalty, and absolutely skied the ball into the Atletico fans.

After the sides could not be separated in extra time, the game went all the way to penalties. Mbappe scored first for Real Madrid. Sorloth responded by scoring his penalty next. Bellingham scored. And now, up steps Alvarez. To tie the penalties to 2-2. He scores a great penalty, smashing the ball down the middle as he does so often, but VAR have other ideas. According to VAR, Alvarez double-tapped the ball before it went into the back of the net, which results in the goal being disallowed. I have 2 main issues with this decision:

• Why does this rule exist in the first place? If a player intentionally double taps the ball, it’s quite easy to tell. And of course, it should result in a disallowed goal. If they slightly slip and the flight path of the ball is changed because of it, it actually negatively impacts them as the penalty taker, as the penalty is less accurate. Even if this rule is to be kept in place, a retake for unintentional double-tapping seems much more reasonable than disallowing the goal.

• Why can’t football bring back common sense? A new angle reveals that Alvarez double tapped the ball by what looks like about a millimetre, in other words, an amount so infinitesimal that without the technology, nobody would have noticed. Why should a goal be disallowed because of this? Use some common sense.

It seems ridiculous that these rules are in place in the way that they are, and that VAR now have the ability to intervene on ridiculous things like a player slipping in a penalty shootout (which, again, negatively effects them rather than anyone else). At the end of the day, it isn’t the fault of the match officials of this game. It also isn’t corruption, as this could happen to anyone, not just Real Madrid, and I have no reason to defend Real Madrid as a City fan. This is purely incompetence from the rule-makers.

Make sure to let me know your perspective in the comments below, and remember to like the newsletter to help it to be recommended to new people. It only takes one click. Thanks for reading, and see you next week!