Julián Álvarez was more determined than anyone on Atlético Madrid to qualify for the Champions League quarterfinals against Real Madrid. After scoring in the first-leg match, he tried every possible way to beat Courtois at the Metropolitano. But even when he had the opportunity to do so from the penalty spot, that chance was denied to him.

Simeone can't explain the disallowed penalty against Julián Álvarez

Days, weeks, and months will pass... and the disallowed penalty that Szymon Marciniak decided to call off for Julián Álvarez will continue to be remembered after the persistent protests from the players of Real Madrid and the subsequent notification from VAR. At this point, there still hasn’t been a clear image to explain his decision... and it seems like there never will be.

“When Julián plants his foot and kicks, the ball doesn’t even move a little bit, but oh well... I imagine that if VAR called him... I’ve never seen a penalty called by VAR. But oh well, that’s fine too. They must have seen that he touched it, I want to believe they saw that,” said Diego Pablo Simeone in a press conference, incredulous about what had happened.

Julián Álvarez’s words to his family

That ‘missed’ penalty by Julián Álvarez started signing a death sentence for Atlético Madrid. Moments later, Marcos Llorente sent his shot off the crossbar, and in the decisive penalty to keep Atlético Madrid alive, Oblak couldn’t stop Rüdiger’s strike. However, the feeling is that the entire Metropolitano was focused on Julián's penalty.

After the match, journalist Pedro Fullana revealed the conversation that Julián Álvarez had with his brothers inside the Metropolitano. “What he told them was, ‘I didn’t feel anything. I slip, but I didn’t feel that I touched the ball with the other leg.’” Only he really knows what happened, and according to what ‘MARCA’ learned, he confessed to his teammates that “I didn’t feel that I touched the ball.”