LONDON (AP) — Atletico Madrid’s hopes of winning the Champions League title for the first time ended in a semifinal loss to Arsenal in which two second-half penalty decisions didn’t go its way Tuesday.
Arsenal won 1-0 to advance to its first final in two decades 2-1 on aggregate. Atletico was trying to return to the final for the first time since 2016.
Atletico was looking for an equalizer when Giuliano Simeone felt he was fouled inside the area in the 51st minute. The Atletico player got past goalkeeper David Raya and was taking his shot when defender Gabriel came from behind to disrupt his attempt.
Simeone fell and loudly complained to German referee Daniel Siebert. Video review maintained the referee’s decision on the field to not award the penalty.
“It was all very fast but what I felt was that when I was taking the shot he destabilized me and I couldn’t shoot well. It’s what I felt,” Simeone said. “The referee didn’t even go to check the VAR. The same happened in the play with Antoine (Griezmann).”
The play with Griezmann came five minutes later when the France forward appeared to be stepped on by Arsenal defender Riccardo Calafiori inside the area. The step on Griezmann’s foot appeared to be clear, but the referee called an earlier foul by Atletico’s Marc Pubill on Gabriel as both players went for the ball. Atletico did not think Pubill fouled Gabriel.
“There’s nothing to say. We are out and we need to congratulate Arsenal,” said Atletico coach Diego Simeone, who is Giuliano’s father. “We have to keep working. We won’t focus on a detail that can be seen and is very obvious.”
The coach downplayed the refereeing again in the post-match news conference, saying it was clear to them that the referee called an earlier foul on Gabriel before the foul on Griezmann happened.
Diego Simeone and Atletico’s players applauded as the visiting fans sang in the stands after the match.
“I’m not going to talk about the referee, I’m sure he tried to do his best, just like it happened in the first match,” Atletico midfielder Koke Resurrección said. “He’ll know how he should have refereed. I imagine that he tried his best.”
Both teams had complained of penalty calls not awarded in the first leg, when each side converted penalties in a 1-1 draw.
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Azzoni reported from Madrid.
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