“We got to play against UEFA” said Madrid mayor Jose Luis Martinez-Almeida in a stunning 228-word rant after Arsenal’s Champions League semi-final win over Atletico Madrid to expose both him as a one-eyed football tribalist and a notable difference in Spanish and British politics.
Bukayo Saka’s goal was enough to send Arsenal through to the final in the second leg after 1-1 draw in the Wanda Metropolitano and despite his typical touchline antics, renowned firebrand Diego Simeone said he felt “peaceful” after his side were beaten as the Gunners “deserved to get through”.
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Martinez-Almeida – an Atletico Madrid fan; evidently a diehard one – was less serene, insisting the decision to appoint a German referee was “incomprehensible” and that UEFA made a “predetermined decision aimed at harming” his beloved team.
“Well look, what I’m saying is that when I saw the draw I thought we’d get Arsenal and I was wrong,” he began. “We got to play against UEFA. And UEFA has made it clear that they didn’t want Atletico Madrid in the Champions League final.
“It’s incomprehensible that they appointed a German referee when Spain and Germany are playing for the fifth Champions League spot.
“Who, other than UEFA, would think of appointing a German referee as both the main referee and the VAR referee?
“And yesterday there were plays that weren’t due to the referee being more or less bad, but in my opinion, due to a predetermined decision aimed at harming Atletico Madrid.”
Atletico has several penalty appeals turned down at the Emirates. The first saw Riccardo Calafiori pushing Giuliano Simeone in the box, but the linesman has already flagged for offside.
“It’s incomprehensible that there isn’t a single replay of Giuliano’s offside when it was a clear penalty,” Martinez-Almeida said.
“We later saw on social media that it wasn’t offside and that he left his own half. In a match broadcast by so many television cameras, why didn’t the production team show a replay to determine whether it was offside or not? Because it wasn’t offside, and they refused to admit it.”
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The mayor was also very upset when Atletico weren’t awarded a spot kick when Calafiori stepped on Antoine Griezmann’s foot as Marc Pubill was adjudged to have fouled Gabriel beforehand.
“It’s blatant, the referee blows his whistle once Griezmann falls, Pubill’s foul doesn’t exist,” he added. “And then the added time is clear proof that the referee wanted the match to end as quickly as possible and for Arsenal to go to Budapest instead of Atletico Madrid.”
An astonishing rant from the actual mayor of Madrid after a football game. The equivalent would be Arsenal-supporting Prime Minister Keir Starmer donning his tin-foil hat and launching into a scathing diatribe on supposed UEFA corruption after Eberechi Eze’s penalty was overturned last week.
Martinez-Almeida was awfully quiet after that particular controversy.
