UEFA have released an official, if brief, explanation as to why Arsenal were denied a second penalty after Eberechi Eze tumbled under a challenge from Atlético Madrid defender Dávid Hancko. It will do little the quell the boiling fury inside Mikel Arteta.
It’s simple, in the eyes of the Champions League’s governing body, Hancko “did not commit a foul on the opponent,” read a statement quoted by Sky Sports News.
That was not Danny Makkelie’s view of the incident in real time. With the Champions League semifinal first leg delicately poised at 1–1 after a pair of converted penalties for each side, the Dutch referee pointed to the spot for a third time after Eze toed the ball away from Hancko in the penalty area.
🤬🤬🤬 knew he'd buckle ! Home side gets that pen! pic.twitter.com/HU2UENcHCt
— Ian Wright (@IanWright0) April 29, 2026
Replays showed that the Arsenal No. 10 did get to the ball before his Atlético counterpart, but Hancko made minimal contact with Eze, who flopped onto the turf regardless. Makkelie was sent across to the touchline monitor by the video assistant referee (VAR) and, after reviewing the footage himself, overturned his original decision.
The issue for many was almost detached from the incident itself. Once the on-pitch referee awards a spot kick, it is VAR’s duty to “only intervene for clear and obvious mistakes.” Arsenal’s manager Arteta made it abundantly clear and obvious how he felt about the call.
Arteta: I’m Incredibly Fuming
“What I am incredibly fuming with, is how the penalty on Ebs [Eberechi Eze] gets overturned in the manner that it happened, when it’s not a clear and obvious error,” Arteta raged in his postmatch press conference. “This changes the course of the game. At this level, I’m sorry, but this cannot happen.”
“The referee has to watch it 13 times,” the Gunners boss argued, “it’s clearer than that. It’s impossible, and yeah, we are all fuming about it.”
Arteta had already seen his side win one spot kick—Hancko’s clumsy challenge on Viktor Gyökeres was punished by the Swedish striker on the cusp of halftime—and concede a penalty. While the Basque coach insisted that Ben White’s handball would not have been given domestically—“In the Premier League, it’s not a penalty”—he didn't argue with that particular decision in a Champions League setting. In the undoubtedly partisan view of Arteta, the rules weren’t extended to the Eze incident.
“The same thing that I’m saying, that they applied the rules on Ben White’s penalty, that is difficult to accept, but it is a penalty with a handbook,” Arteta reiterated. “And what they said at the beginning of the season, Ebs is a clear and very obvious penalty. That’s it.”
Despite the decision, Arsenal return to the Emirates for next week’s decisive second leg level in the tie. The odds are in their favor as they lie just one match away from a first Champions League final in 20 years. Yet, Arteta couldn’t help but lament what could have been.
“When you have fought so hard for nine months to be in this position, that’s another goal that changed completely in the course of the tie, and it cannot happen—I’m sorry,” he moaned. “We put so much on it, so, so, so much on it. This cannot happen.”
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Why Eberechi Eze, Arsenal Had Penalty Overturned vs. Atletico Madrid.
