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Last night, Atletico Madrid were eliminated by Arsenal in the Champions League semi-finals. In the 56th minute of the match, Antoine Griezmann was brought down by Riccardo Calafiori inside the penalty area. However, the referee disallowed the attack due to a previous foul committed by Pubill on Gabriel, a decision that was heavily questioned during the broadcast.
After the match, Cadena COPE commented on the foul against Griezmann, with commentators and experts unanimously agreeing that a penalty should have been awarded.
Commentator Gonzalo Miro stated: “This is a very clear, textbook penalty. Pubill's foul? Come on, for God's sake.”
Paco Gonzalez was even more explicit: “Pubill did not commit a foul, but Calafiori stepped on Griezmann. Pubill did nothing; it was the Arsenal player who ran into Pubill.”
The crux of the controversy lies in the VAR protocol. As analyzed during the broadcast, if the referee blows for a prior foul, any subsequent potential penalty situations cannot be reviewed by the Video Assistant Referee, as explained by referee expert Pedro Martin: “If he blows for the prior foul, they cannot review that penalty.”
According to analysts, the referee's strategy may have been to call any type of physical contact to control the game. However, this decision prevented the review of this crucial incident. Because once the referee blows for a foul, and there is indeed slight contact, they will not be required to conduct a review, which explains why VAR did not intervene to assess Griezmann's fall.
Former La Liga referee Iturralde Gonzalez spoke live on the program "Carrusel Deportivo" about whether Calafiori's stepping on Griezmann's foot should have been a penalty.
In the 57th minute of the match, they firmly demanded a penalty for Antoine Griezmann. After a tussle between Pubill and Gabriel, Calafiori stepped on Griezmann's foot inside the penalty area. The match's referee, Daniel Siebert, did not award a penalty because he judged that Pubill had previously fouled Gabriel.
During the live broadcast of "Carrusel Deportivo," referee expert Iturralde Gonzalez gave a clear opinion: “I think VAR would have reminded him, and then he would have awarded a penalty, because Calafiori stepped on Griezmann's supporting foot.”
“The key is whether the referee blew the whistle for the foul before the stepping occurred. If he blew before the stepping, VAR cannot intervene. If he blew after the stepping, then this is within VAR's scope of intervention, and a penalty should be awarded.”
So, did Pubill foul Gabriel before Calafiori fouled Griezmann? Gonzalez believes not: “If Pubill had charged forward with both legs and collided with the Arsenal center-back, that leg should have been extended. But if you watch the replay, he was retracting his leg. The angle may be misleading, but he retracted his leg to avoid colliding with the opponent and thus conceding a penalty.”
