Simeone leads Atletico Madrid outcry after penalty appeals ignored in Arsenal defeat
Giuliano Simeone made a pointed post on social media after his side were denied two penalty appeals in their defeat to Arsenal
Atletico Madrid midfielder Giuliano Simeone protested two penalty appeals his side were denied as they were knocked out of the Champions League on Tuesday night. Bukayo Saka ’s first-half tap-in at the Emirates Stadium was enough for Arsenal to seal a 2-1 aggregate victory after a 1-1 stalemate in the Spanish capital in the first leg. The result ended what had started looking like a fairytale run for Atletico, managed by Giuliano Simeone’s father Diego, but was not without controversy.
Atletico believed they should have been granted two penalty appeals, with Giuliano Simeone continuing the protests against the officials’ decision after the game. The Argentine posted two screenshots of the game to his Instagram story showing an incident when Riccardo Calafiori pushed him in the box, which was flagged offside. The first contentious incident occurred early in the second half when Simeone outwitted Arsenal defender William Saliba and intercepted a poor backpass to Gunners keeper David Raya , with Simeone through on goal, before Gabriel intervened with a tackle inside the penalty area, appearing to shove Simeone.
However neither referee Daniel Siebert, his assistants nor VAR deemed the contact worthy of rewarding with a spot-kick. Simeone said afterwards: “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.
“The referee didn’t even go to check the VAR. The same happened in the play with Antoine (Griezmann). ” The second incident occurred shortly after when Riccardo Calafiori brought down Atletico’s Antoine Griezmann in the box, with VAR reviewing the strong challenge.