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As the Atletico Madrid forward’s left foot gave way while he was lining up to take the fourth penalty in Wednesday’s shootout against Real Madrid, a wave of panic briefly washed across his face. That was swiftly replaced with relief when he saw the ball crash into the roof of Thibaut Courtois’ net, levelling the score once again in the Champions League round of 16 tie.
A fog of confusion soon descended upon the entire Metropolitano. Eventually it became clear – to those outside the stadium at least – that VAR had identified a double touch during Alvarez’s penalty which was subsequently ruled out. Real Madrid ultimately prevailed, consigning Alvarez to a final state of deflation.
Simply put, Alvarez touched the ball twice, accidentally kicking it with his right foot onto his standing left foot.
According to Law 14 in the rules of the game: “If, after the penalty kick has been taken, the kicker touches the ball again before it has touched another player an indirect free kick (or direct free kick for a handball offence) is awarded.”
As the offence took place during a penalty shootout, the series of spot kicks continued rather than the award of a free kick.
Spotting the double touch was a bit more complicated.
Despite theories to the contrary, there is no chip in the Champions League ball to assist with the semi-automated offside technology – such as the system used at Euro 2024. On-pitch referee Szymon Marciniak did not spot the offence in real time but was assisted by his VAR Tomasz Kwiatkowski.
UEFA have not released an official statement, but the Independent’s Miguel Delaney claimed that the organising body for European football had offered some clarity: “UEFA saying it is just VAR – so using replays – to confirm double-touch on a …
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