Atletico Madrid have been left furious after their controversial Champions League exit at the hands of Arsenal. The La Liga side suffered a narrow 1-0 loss at the Emirates courtesy of Bukayo Saka's first-half goal in the semi-final second leg.
Pre-Match Grievances
Diego Simeone's men were unhappy before a ball was even kicked. According to Spanish outlet AS, Atletico felt aggrieved after learning that German referee Daniel Siebert would be in charge. Siebert has now refereed four of their games against English teams, all of which they have failed to win. Furthermore, Bastian Dankert was on VAR and has now overseen Atletico's last three Champions League exits.
Fireworks and Bus Escort
During the early hours of Tuesday morning, Arsenal fans let off a barrage of fireworks in an attempt to disrupt Atletico's players' sleep. Club chiefs are now considering filing a complaint to UEFA. When Atletico travelled to the Emirates at around 6pm, their bus was without an escort for much of the journey, and home supporters gave the visitors a fiery welcome.
In-Game Controversies
Once the game started, several decisions went against Atletico. They were denied a clear penalty on Antoine Griezmann due to a foul earlier in the passage of play. Earlier in the first half, Giuliano Simeone, Diego's son, looked set to equalise before going down after contact with Arsenal defender Gabriel Magalhaes. Siebert waved away Atletico's appeals, and after a VAR check, Dankert agreed.
Atletico also felt that five minutes of stoppage time was insufficient. As the clock ticked down, Arsenal delayed play, with Gabriel Martinelli throwing a ball into the crowd and Kepa Arrizabalaga booting the ball away from the sidelines.
Post-Match Reactions
After full-time, Giuliano Simeone vented his fury on Instagram, posting an image of a challenge by Arsenal's Riccardo Calafiori. His father, Diego Simeone, remained calm and congratulated Arsenal's players, refusing to dwell on refereeing decisions. "I'm not going to get into that," Simeone said. "We all know it was a foul. We all thought that the referee had got it right. I'm not going to get involved in that because I don't want to make excuses."
