All At sea
Atletico Madrid suffer ‘worst VAR decision ever’ as fans fume at ‘robbery of the highest degree’ in Champions League
Simeone received a caution for his protests
ATLETICO MADRID fans and boss Diego Simeone have been left fuming after they conceded a harsh-looking penalty during their Champions League clash with Lille.
Madrid were looking to get back to winning ways in the competition after suffering a huge 4-0 defeat to Benfica last time out.
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However, they ended up falling to a 3-1 defeat at the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium on Wednesday night.
They had taken the lead after eight minutes through Julian Alvarez.
However, the French outfit managed to equalise with super-sub Edon Zhegrova in the 61st minute.
With the balance of the game on a knife edge, referee Marco Guida then awarded a penalty to the visitors.
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It was initially assumed that this was given for an alleged handball by Koke.
But it was later revealed that the spot kick was awarded for a trip by the Atletico Madrid captain immediately afterwards.
And replays showed that the ball never touched Koke's arm but that of a Lille player.
The footage also revealed that Koke made only minimal contact with his opponent during the incident immediately afterwards which saw the penalty awarded.
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VAR reviewed the incident and after several moments ruled that the on-field decision should stand, though Guida did not go to the monitor to check.
Jonathan David stepped up to slot home the subsequent penalty in the 74th minute, before later adding Lille's third goal of the night in the 89th minute.
'Bruno Fernandes red card was huge VAR error' in Man Utd loss to Spurs | Whistleblower, Mark Halsey
Simeone, 54, was furious at the decision and received a yellow card for his protests.
Speaking after the game, he said: "It wasn’t a penalty.
"We’ve been watching the replays, the referee must have made a mistake about what he saw, and those on the VAR weren’t able to help him.”
Fans echoed the emotive Argentine's sentiment on social media, with one saying: "VAR did NOT overturn Lille's penalty???????????? This may be the worst VAR decision I have ever seen.
"Lille's had handball, not Atletico's player. Madness. Maybe I'm blind, someone explain."
A second said: "Lille is robbing you at home. Zero respect for this team in this competition of the f***ing devil.
"They have whistled for a penalty for Koke's touch on the boot of a guy who was falling to the ground."
Another said: "Keep rewatching this Lille penalty, and there’s no explanation as to why this was given.
"There was no foul. There’s a Lille handball in the box before the call. There’s no handball by anyone from Atleti. So what exactly is the decision for? A robbery of the highest degree."
And former Champions League final referee Mateu Lahoz said: "It is possible that the referee makes a mistake and sees Koke's handball. But VAR is a tool that has to help.
"The VAR referee had no experience, he was not given the opportunity, he was not invited to see it. It is impossible to explain what he called."
He added: "It's a black night for refereeing. The VAR came in for plays like these."
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The result leaves the Spanish side down in 27th in the table, with their next game seeing them take a trip to Paris Saint-Germain.
Meanwhile, Lille are 15th in the table and firmly in the play-off spots, with their next game seeing them host Juventus.
New Champions League format is a snorefest
By Dan King
UEFA sold the idea of expanding the Champions League from 32 to 36 teams, with each playing eight games instead of six in the opening phase, as a way of creating more competitiveness and excitement.
The biggest clubs would have two matches against their peers, rather than having to wait until the knockout stage to meet.
The smaller clubs would meet teams of a similar level twice and have a chance of tasting victory that was so hard to achieve if you were the bottom seed in a group of four.
Ignoring for a moment the fact that the real motivation was the simple equation of more games = more money, the theory itself already looks flawed.
None of the matches between European giants has delivered a compelling contest yet.
And why would they? At the start of the long season with more matches in it, why would any team with ambitions to win things in the spring, go out all guns blazing in the autumn?
Especially when they know they have six games NOT against big sides to make sure they accrue enough points to qualify at least for the play-off round (and even more games).
There is even less jeopardy than before.
Read the full column on the Champions League format fail and why everyone - including YOU - needs a rethink.
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