The double-kick penalty that cost Atletico Madrid in the shootout

Real Madrid have Atletico’s number in shootouts, having triumphed against them on every occasion the derby has gone to penalties.

But Wednesday’s defeat in the last 16 of the Champions League will be particularly frustrating for Diego Simeone’s side.

Atleti midfielder Conor Gallagher’s strike after 27 seconds had levelled the tie 2-2 on aggregate, but neither side could then find the decisive goal in normal or extra time, leaving penalties to decide the outcome between the rivals for a sixth time in knockout games.

There, Real Madrid won 4-2 in dramatic and controversial fashion. Defender Antonio Rudiger squeezed home the decisive penalty in the corner past Jan Oblak, but the hosts were left to rue Julian Alvarez’s earlier disallowed effort in somewhat bizarre circumstances.

After the first three penalties had been successfully converted, ex-Manchester City forward Alvarez stepped up with the chance to make it 2-2.

The Argentina international slipped as he took his shot, but still managed to beat Thibaut Courtois.

Atletico fans were celebrating, but seconds before Fede Valverde fired home Real’s next penalty, Polish referee Szymon Marciniak indicated Alvarez’s spot-kick had been ruled out as the video assistant referee (VAR) got involved.

A review of the incident showed the forward touched the ball twice in one movement as he slipped while shooting.

The scoreboard in the ground displayed 2-2 after Alvarez’s effort, no doubt leading to confusion in the stands, but at that stage Real actually led 3-1.

Although Atletico goalkeeper Oblak saved Lucas Vazquez’s spot-kick to briefly give Atletico hope, Marcos Llorente hit the bar for the hosts and German Rudiger sent Real through in a tense finale.

Article 14.1 of the IFAB (International Football Association Board) laws of the game concerns penalties.

The rules state: “The kicker must not play the ball again until it has touched another player.”

That is the same law that stops people scoring a rebound if their own penalty hits the post.

If the same happened from a penalty during regular play, an indirect free-kick would be awarded to the opposition.

Atletico coach Simeone cast doubt on the decision, but hoped the officials had made the right call.

“The referee said when Julian got to the penalty spot he touched the ball with his standing foot, but the ball did not move,” he said.

“I’ve never seen a penalty where they’ve called the VAR, but well, they would have seen that he touched it. I want to believe, I want to believe they saw he touched it.”

But Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti was satisfied the correct decision was made.

“They detected it. When we realised there was this doubt they had already detected it on VAR,” he added.

“I saw it, I think he touches it with his left foot, a second touch.”

Real Madrid goalkeeper Courtois accepted it was unfortunate for Atletico, but the rules meant it was rightly disallowed.

He told Uefa.com: “I felt that there was something weird going on, so we said it straight to the referee and then it was confirmed that there was a double touch and it didn’t count, so that obviously gives us the edge.

“He (Alvarez) slipped and he touched the ball twice and that is a missed penalty. You cannot touch the ball twice. That’s bad luck but it’s the rules.”

Former Newcastle and Republic of Ireland goalkeeper Shay Given said on BBC Match of the Day: “Sometimes you see it happen where the ball is kicked off the other foot and then goes in a completely different direction.

“Here the ball doesn’t really change direction but he (Alvarez) does kick the ball off his [right] foot. The laws of the game are clear.”

Yes – twice in the Premier League.

In 2017, Leicester’s Riyad Mahrez had a penalty disallowed for a similar offence in his side’s 2-1 loss to Manchester City, who he later joined.

The Algeria winger slipped as he took a penalty and the ball hit his standing foot before looping into the net.

“The shot was strange but the rule is clear. Two touches, the same as golf,” said City manager Pep Guardiola at the time. “It is not normal.”

And in January 2023, Fulham striker Aleksandar Mitrovic did the same thing, accidentally kicking the ball on to his standing foot as he slipped while striking it. The Cottagers lost the game 1-0 to his former club Newcastle.

But later that year, a penalty stood under similar circumstances in the Scottish Premiership.

Bojan Miovski seemed to slip as he took a late penalty for Aberdeen against St Mirren, with an apparent double touch taking it into the net in a 2-2 draw. A VAR review, though, allowed the goal to stand.

The win keeps Real Madrid’s hopes of a record-extending 16th Champions League trophy alive, and maintains their impressive record against their city rivals: