The mayor of Madrid has made several astonishing claims about the performance of officials during Atletico’s Champions League defeat by Arsenal – and hinted that foul play was evident.
The Gunners progressed to the final of Europe’s elite club competition by virtue of a 2-1 aggregate victory over the Spanish side, with Bukayo Saka’s first-half strike on Tuesday night being enough for the win.
However, it was a tense encounter, with several clashes between both sets of players and their respective benches throughout the 90 minutes.
And Jose Luis Martinez-Almeida, the Madrid mayor who is a die-hard Atletico fan, launched an incredible rant at a public appearance in the city on Wednesday where he suggested that his beloved side had been unfairly treated.
‘Well look, what I’m saying is that when I saw the draw I thought we’d get Arsenal and I was wrong,’ he began. ‘We got to play against UEFA. And UEFA has made it clear that they didn’t want Atletico Madrid in the Champions League final.
‘It’s incomprehensible that they appointed a German referee when Spain and Germany are playing for the fifth Champions League spot.
Jose Luis Martinez-Almeida, the Madrid mayor, made several astonishing claims about the performance of officials in Atletico’s Champions League defeat by Arsenal
Atletico were left frustrated after being knocked out of the competition at the semi-final stage
‘Who, other than UEFA, would think of appointing a German referee as both the main referee and the VAR referee?
‘And yesterday there were plays that weren’t due to the referee being more or less bad, but in my opinion, due to a predetermined decision aimed at harming Atletico Madrid.’
Atletico were particularly aggrieved at three penalty appeals that were rejected during the game.
The first involved Riccardo Calafiori pushing Giuliano Simeone in the box, but the linesman had already flagged for offside, although replays suggested the Atletico star may have been onside.
On that incident, the mayor added: ‘It’s incomprehensible that there isn’t a single replay of Giuliano’s offside when it was a clear penalty.
‘We later saw on social media that it wasn’t offside and that he left his own half. In a match broadcast by so many television cameras, why didn’t the production team show a replay to determine whether it was offside or not? Because it wasn’t offside, and they refused to admit it.’
The younger Simeone was again seemingly targeted when he attempted to get his shot off and was touched by Gabriel in the process, but the light challenge also went untouched by VAR.
Martinez-Almeida’s major issue, however, came with the refusal to award a penalty when Calafiori stepped on Antoine Griezmann’s foot after the French forward had a shot on goal which was saved by Raya.
The decision was instead taken to award a foul against Atletico after Marc Pubill was found to have unfairly challenged Gabriel before that.
‘It’s blatant, the referee blows his whistle once Griezmann falls, Pubill’s foul doesn’t exist,’ he added. ‘And then the added time is clear proof that the referee wanted the match to end as quickly as possible and for Arsenal to go to Budapest instead of Atletico Madrid.’
Atletico’s players and staff were left fuming with several decisions that were made on the night
German referee Daniel Sibert and VAR official Bastian Dankert, who is also German, again attracted his ire as he continued to hit out at what had gone on.
He fumed: ‘It’s inexplicable that they would appoint a German referee, that they wouldn’t show replays of such important plays as Giuliano’s offside, and that at the same time we all know that VAR doesn’t call the referee when he blows his whistle… when Griezmann goes down, but not when he says there’s a foul by Pubill.
‘There’s intent in my opinion. I insist, Arsenal could have been beaten, but we couldn’t beat the UEFA Cup and it was impossible to beat it.
‘We drew the UEFA Cup, not Arsenal, in the draw to go to Budapest.’
Despite his beloved side’s exit, Martinez-Almeida did express pride at how his club had handled themselves.
He said: ‘That’s why I think we Atletico fans are proud of our team because they competed not against Arsenal, but against UEFA.
‘You can beat Arsenal over 180 minutes, but you can’t beat UEFA. And UEFA set in motion the entire machinery to prevent Atletico Madrid from advancing in yesterday’s match, and the referee was the one who carried out that will.’
