The Atletico Madrid vs Arsenal Champions League semi-final first leg ended in a 1-1 draw 24 hours after the record-breaking tie between Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich. Arsenal will return to the Emirates to host Atleti next week.
However, that is not the main highlight of the story. The game was a tale of three penalty calls, two of which were given and successfully converted. Viktor Gyokeres put the Premier League side in front with one before halftime, and Julian Alvarez equallized for Atletico after a controversial handball decision given against Ben White.
The final penalty call was the main point of contention. Referee Danny Makkelie initially gave a penalty after when David Hancko caught Eberechi Eze. But it was overturned after Makkelie checked the video assistant referee (VAR) monitor. This decision left Arsenal boss, Mikel Arteta fuming.
“There is no clear and obvious error,” Arteta said. “And this changes the course of the game. And at this level, I’m sorry but this cannot happen.”
Asked if he received an explanation for that decision, he replied: ” “No. A very clear explanation of the decision and what happens for a period of time, a referee has to watch it 13 times, what’s more clear than that? It’s impossible and we are all fuming about it.”
Atletico Madrid vs Arsenal: Should the referee had overturned the penalty decision?
Was Atletico’s David Hancko’s foul on Eberechi Eze soft? Football analysts believe so. On the overturned penalty, Match of the day pundit Nedum Onuoha said: “You could argue that all three penalties, if they were given, were all quite soft. And although some people will believe he was always going to overturn it when he went to the screen, we have seen times when referees haven’t – but he has decided that is the right decision.”
So, is there a reason to go against the referee’s decision? Well, a similar incident happened last month with a different result. In Arsenal’s first-leg last 16 tie against Bayer Leverkusen, the Gunners awarded a late penalty when Noni Madueke went down in the area from Malik Tillman’s challenge.
The contact against Madueke was seen as soft, despite Tillman landing on the England International’s boot, but the penalty was given anyway. Fast forward to Wednesday’s game, Hancko clearly caught Eze’s boot but the penalty was not given. One might think that the Madueke decision should have been applied here since they are similar incidents. But this is the Champions League. The rules are regarded as slightly different from the Premier League rules.
Two nights of handball controversies
The UEFA Champions League semi final first leg has produced two trending handball controversies – first Bayern Munich and now Arsenal. In the PSG vs Bayern game on Tuesday, a penalty was given against Alphonso Davies which would probably not have been given in a Premier League game.
UEFA rules state that the arm must move out from the body before the ball hits it before it can be awarded. Ben White’s handball against Atletico was a very clear penalty under Uefa’s definition as the arm was a long way from the body before contact with the ball. However, Hancko’s challenge on Eze was not seen as a penalty, a decision that could have been given if it were a Premier League game.
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