Arsenal beat Atletico Madrid 1-0 on the night and 2-1 on aggregate to reach the Champions League final, but David Beckham argued the Gunners were fortunate not to concede a penalty
David Beckham has insisted that Atletico Madrid should have been awarded a second-half penalty in Tuesday’s Champions League clash against Arsenal.
The Gunners emerged 1-0 victors on the night and 2-1 on aggregate to secure their place in the final of Europe’s premier club competition for the first time in 20 years. Bukayo Saka’s first-half goal proved sufficient to set up a showdown with either Bayern Munich or Paris Saint-Germain later this month.
Atletico posed minimal attacking threat but felt aggrieved not to receive a penalty when Riccardo Calafiori appeared to bring down Antoine Griezmann inside the box. Replays revealed that Calafiori made contact with the side of Griezmann’s ankle as the Frenchman tried to evade him.
Referee Daniel Siebert had already blown for a foul on Gabriel Magalhaes by Marc Pubill just moments beforehand. However, Beckham maintained Gabriel was never fouled initially, meaning that Atletico ought to have been awarded a spot-kick as he believed Griezmann was impeded.
Speaking on his Beckham and Friends watch-along programme, Beckham said: “Oh my god. Oh that’s not a foul. That is not a foul. This [Calafiori challenge] is! Yep! That wasn’t a foul on Gabriel.”
Actor Tom Hiddleston challenged Beckham’s assertion and suggested the foul on Griezmann was “the same motion” as the one on Eberechi Eze that wasn’t awarded in the first leg.
But Beckham responded: “Well, I didn’t think that was a penalty. I don’t think he touched him.” Atleti manager Diego Simeone gave his assessment of the contentious incident involving Griezmann and Calafiori after the final whistle, admitting he had no desire to “dwell” on the matter.
“I won’t dwell on a simple matter like the Griezmann incident,” Simeone said. “It was very clear, and we understand there was a foul by Pubill on one of their players. We believe he made the correct call in that situation.”
He added: “There’s no point in discussing it further, as that would be making excuses, and I don’t want to search for excuses. There is nothing more to say. We are out of the tournament. We congratulate Arsenal; they competed well, and I admire their team and coach.”
When pressed further on his side’s display at the Emirates Stadium, Simeone remarked: “We got to a place nobody imagined, competing with a team with incredible power.
“I feel proud to be where I am. In pre-season, when the team was presented, I said we’d compete. And we competed. Unfortunately we haven’t won anything, but we’ve gotten to places it isn’t easy to get to.”
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