Diego Simeone has blasted the decision to overturn Julian Alvarez's penalty in last night's shootout defeat to Real Madrid in the Champions League.
The hosts went ahead in the first minute of the match through Conor Gallagher, with the former Chelsea star rifling past Thibaut Courtois from close range.
Real star Vinicius Jr then proceeded to miss a penalty and, with the tie level at 2-2 on aggregate, spot-kicks were required to separate the two sides.
Alvarez initially scored his effort. However, VAR then overruled his strike - with the former Manchester City star adjudged to have kicked the ball twice.
Diego Simeone has blasted the decision to overturn Julian Alvarez's penalty in last night's shootout defeat to Real Madrid in the Champions League
REUTERS
Real proceeded to go through, with Antonio Rudiger converting the winner from 12 yards.
There were dramatic scenes on Wednesday night and Simeone, speaking after the game, has now made it clear he feels Alvarez's effort should have counted.
"I just saw the image of the penalty," said the Atletico boss.
"The referee said that when Julián stepped and kicked, he touched the ball with his foot, but the ball didn’t move.
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"That’s something to discuss about whether it was a goal or not, but I’m proud of my players."
When quizzed further, Simeone added: "When he plants his foot and kicks, the ball doesn’t move even a little bit.
"But if VAR called it, I’ve never seen a penalty called by VAR, but it’s still valid, and they’ll have seen that he touched it.
"I want to believe they’ll have seen that he touched it."
Julian Alvarez saw his penalty overturned as Real Madrid sent Atletico Madrid crashing out of the Champions League
REUTERS
Simeone was visibly proud of his players, with the charismatic Atletico boss rousing them in the aftermath of the crushing defeat.
They still have plenty to play for, with the LaLiga side currently changing Real and Barcelona on the domestic scene.
And Simeone has insisted he's at 'peace' with Atletico's controversial defeat due to their strong form in LaLiga.
"People are leaving with the pain of being eliminated, without a doubt," he added.
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"We all wanted to play in the final, but knowing that their team gave it their all.
"There are two ways to go to sleep: one, saying how badly we played, we didn’t do what we had to do; and the other is saying that we gave everything.
"This team gave everything and deserved the applause the fans gave us in return.
"The fans were there yesterday, they were there today. It was a very beautiful day. We [don’t get to] continue [in the Champions League], but I’m leaving in peace."
Diego Simeone insists he's proud of his Atletico Madrid players despite their Champions League exit at the hands of Real Madrid
REUTERS
Real, meanwhile, will face Arsenal in the next round.
The Gunners reached the quarter-finals by beating PSV Eindhoven 7-3 on aggregate, with last night's match at the Emirates Stadium ending in a 2-2 draw.
