Atletico Madrid exited the Champions League semi-final on Tuesday night at the hands of Arsenal, but Los Colchoneros were not happy with the officiating during the clash. While publicly they did their best to avoid commenting on the matter, internally, there was huge frustration that none of their three penalty appeals were attended to.
In the first instance, Atletico Madrid appealed that Riccardo Calafiori had shoved Giuliano Simeone in the box with two hands, and little concern for the ball, an image the Argentina international later posted on his Instagram without comments. He did comment on a major chance he could not put away, but claimed that he was manhandled by Arsenal defender Gabriel Magalhaes.
Giuliano Simeone has posted an image of the so-called offside from last night, after Calafiori pushed him to the ground inside the Arsenal penalty area. pic.twitter.com/KyFkIByYON
— Atletico Universe (@atletiuniverse) May 6, 2026
“When I went to shoot, I was destabilised and couldn’t strike it properly. That’s what I felt. In some situations like that one, the referee didn’t even go to VAR, same with one involving Antoine, and the decisions didn’t go our way,” he told Movistar+ via Diario AS. The Antoine Griezmann decision related to a foul given against Marc Pubill before the Frenchman was brought down by Riccardo Calafiori.
— Atletico Universe (@atletiuniverse) May 5, 2026
Koke and Diego Simeone avoid refereeing complaints
While Giuliano did comment on the penalty decisions, captain Koke Resurreccion did his best to avoid getting into it, stating that he had ‘nothing to say’, and that the referee was ‘doing the best he could’. Manager Diego Simeone was slightly less successful at biting his tongue, describing the Griezmann incident as ‘clear’, but then noting that he did not want to spend more time on it as it would be making excuses.
Mikel Arteta praises referee
Following the first leg, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has highly critical of the officiating, stating that ‘it was a turning point in the tie’ when a penalty against Atletico was overturned. However after the second leg, the Arsenal boss stated to AS that “I thought it was very good. There was nothing to criticise.”
Atletico Madrid unhappy with officiating
As explained in a subsequent article by AS, Atletico Madrid were not happy with the officiating. They say that at the highest levels and in the dressing room, there was major anger at the officiating, feeling that throughout the second leg, it was detrimental to them. Beyond their three penalty appeals, which they feel were clearer than the one given to Atletico Madrid in the Metropolitano, the lack of additional time played was another point of frustration.
⌚️ Al acabar el partido procedo a cronometrar el tiempo añadido por Daniel Siebert
👮🏻♂️ Se anuncian 5′
👮🏻♂️ Pita en el 5′ 33″⌛️ ¿Tiempo de juego efectivo en esos 5′ 33″?
🚨 SE JUGÓ 1 MINUTO Y 37 SEGUNDOS.
▪️4 tarjetas mostradas 🟨, balones a la grada, alejándolos de donde se… pic.twitter.com/sKiMDbSsQy
— Mr. Asubío (@MrAsubio) May 5, 2026
In addition, there was a lack of understanding as to why VAR official Bastian Dankert, the same man that instructed Szymon Marciniak to disallow Julian Alvarez’s penalty against Real Madrid last season in the Round of 16, was designated for the game.
Mayor of Madrid wades in on Arsenal-Atletico officiating
On top of that, Mayor of Madrid Jose Luis Martinez-Almeida has also expressed his indignation with the refeeeing team. Despite his regular presence at the Santiago Bernabeu, Martinez-Almeida is a confessed Atletico fan.
“When I saw the draw, I thought we’d drawn Arsenal, but I was wrong; we drew UEFA, and UEFA has made it clear they didn’t want Atlético Madrid in the Champions League final. It’s incomprehensible that they appointed a German referee when Spain and Germany are fighting for the fifth Champions League spot,” Cadena SER quote from a press conference at the Palacio de Cibeles.
“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. UEFA set its entire machinery in motion to prevent Atletico from advancing in that match, and the referee was the one who carried out that plan. There was intent. We couldn’t beat UEFA, and it was impossible to beat them.”
