Atletico Madrid have vented their fury at the behaviour of Arsenal’s players and the refereeing team following their Champions League semi-final defeat, according to reports in Spain.
Diego Simeone’s men were knocked out of the tournament against a torrid backdrop in north London, with the Argentine manager’s rage boiling over to the extent that he pushed Arsenal sporting director Andrea Berta in the closing stages.
But the long-serving Atletico head coach opted to keep a cooler head in his post-match press conference, claiming that he did not want to give ‘excuses’ for the 1-0 defeat.
Away from the cameras, however, there is thought to be a different story, with AS reporting that the club have felt aggrieved since arriving on English soil.
The players and coaching staff were sent an early warning by committed Gooners in the form of a volley of fireworks let off by fans outside the team hotel, with the club thought to be mulling a complaint to UEFA.
But the visiting side were already thought to feel a sense of unease after arriving in the capital, following confirmation of UEFA’s officiating team.
Atletico Madrid are thought to be privately fuming after a number of circumstances in north London on Tuesday
The behaviour of the players is thought to have been called into question, after Gabriel Martinelli threw the ball into the crowd, left, before Kepa Arrizabalaga booted it away
According to the publication, the approval of Daniel Siebert as referee and Bastian Dankert at the helm of the VAR team outraged the club, with the former having overseen three Atletico matches against English teams, and no wins – and the latter having overseen their last two Champions League exits.
Atletico are also thought to have felt that Arsenal deployed ‘underhand tactics’ as the team travelled to the Emirates for much of the journey without an escort, against a backdrop of wild scenes from the home fans outside the stadium.
Criticised too was the behaviour of players during the scant injury time, which saw Gabriel Martinelli appear to delay a restart by flinging a ball into the crowd, only for it to be booted away by substitute goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga when it was eventually returned.
Arsenal were similarly enraged last week during their trip to Madrid, making a complaint to UEFA after insisting that the length of the grass on the pitch was higher than regulation.
In the Spanish capital, both sets of fans were targeted with pepper spray amid chaotic scenes outside the stadium to welcome both of the coaches.
The Gunners also claimed that the hosts had received preferential treatment from the referees in Madrid when a second penalty was overturned, with both Simeone and the crowd accused of shaping the referees’ decision.
A week later, and Atletico are now thought to be the ones unhappy with decisions made on the pitch, with three alleged penalty shouts going unanswered.
The first involved Riccardo Calafiori pushing Giuliano Simeone in the box, with a line official flagging for offside and a decision taken not to send the replay upstairs to VAR.
This rankled the Argentine in particular, with the player sharing a picture of the movement to his Instagram Stories, including a snapshot of the start of this run which appeared to come from within his own half.
The younger Simeone was again seemingly targeted when attempting to get his shot off and touched by Gabriel in the process, the light challenge also going unnoticed by VAR.
The choice of Daniel Siebert as referee immediately sparked outrage in the Spanish capital
Giuliano Simeone appeared to register his dissatisfaction by posting pictures of an early challenge on him to Instagram
Simeone may have pointedly got in a rebuke to Arsenal when he stepped on their badge
The publication notes that the camp were especially unhappy with the refusal to award a penalty after 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 Arsenal, after Marc Pubill was found to have committed a challenge in the build-up.
‘I’m not going to dwell on something as simple and easy as the play involving Griezmann,’ Simeone said after the match in his most aggressive statement.
He added: ‘It’s very obvious…
‘I’m not going to dwell on it because that would be making excuses, and I don’t want to make excuses for anything.
Read More
Arteta’s big call pays off and why reaching the Champions League final can aid Arsenal’s title bid
‘We continue with our work, without getting bogged down in a detail of something that’s so obvious. When the players give their all, when they compete, when we want to win, it’s just not enough.’
Rather than berate the officiating at length, Simeone might have instead chosen to display his unhappiness more pointedly.
The manager was captured walking over the Arsenal badge on the ground as he went down the tunnel – something he appeared to roundly castigate Ben White for doing on his home turf last week.
For his part, Mikel Arteta had nothing but praise for the referees as he celebrated Arsenal reaching their first Champions League final since 2006.
‘I thought it was very good,’ Arteta said at full-time when asked about the officiating performances. ‘There was nothing to report.’
