Mikel Arteta rages against Champions League officials: “Unacceptable”

Arsenal took a creditable 1-1 draw from the first leg of their Champions League semi-final first leg against Atlético Madrid but head coach Mikel Arteta was left aggrieved after his team were denied a late penalty.

With ten minutes of normal time remaining, Eberechi Eze was felled by Atleti defender Dávid Hancko in the box. Referee Danny Makkelie wasted no time in pointing to the spot but then reversed his decision after being advised by the VAR to consult with a pitchside monitor. Speaking after the game, Arteta questioned why the penalty was overturned without any clear evidence of a mistake from the officials.

“What I am incredibly fuming with is how the penalty on Ebs [Eze] gets overturned in the manner that it happened, when it’s not a clear and obvious error,” Arteta said. “And this changes the course of the game. And at this level, I’m sorry but this cannot happen.”

A ‘Champions League handball’ against Arsenal?

Arteta did concede that he was not surprised to see defender Ben White penalized for a handball in the first half. The ball struck White’s hand while it was raised to the side and it appeared to block a goal-bound shot. A penalty was duly awarded and Julián Alvarez converting the resultant spot kick to fire Atleti ahead.

The Arsenal coach said of the incident: “In the Premier League it is not a penalty. In the Champions League, it is a penalty. They made it very clear from day one, they have been consistent. I understand that today it is a penalty.”

Arsenal will be confident of getting the job done against Atlético in the second leg as they look to reach the Champions League final for the first time since 2005/06. The final weeks of the season are reaching a dizzying crescendo for Arsenal with their Premier League title hopes now hanging in the balance. But despite the additional emotional and physical pressure that the Champions League run places on his depleted squad, Arteta insisted that he is relishing the challenge of competing for the two biggest prizes on offer.

“We can only recover, eat, sleep and give the boys a lot of love. What we’ve been through is incredible and the opportunity is to win the Premier League and the Champions League at the end of it. There’s nothing like it.”

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