David Beckham has slammed referee Daniel Siebert after he decided not to give Atletico Madrid a penalty for a foul from Arsenal's Riccardo Calafiori on Antoine Griezmann
David Beckham has claimed that Atletico Madrid should have been awarded a second-half penalty in Tuesday's Champions League game against Arsenal.
The Gunners ran out 1-0 winners on the night and 2-1 on aggregate to seal a place in the final of Europe's elite club competition for the first time in 20 years. Bukayo Saka's first-half strike was enough to book a showdown with either Bayern Munich or Paris Saint-Germain later this month.
Atletico offered little going forward but felt hard done by to not get a penalty when Riccardo Calafiori appeared to foul Antoine Griezmann inside the area. Footage showed that Calafiori caught the side of Griezmann's ankle as the Frenchman attempted to skip past him.
Referee Daniel Siebert had blown his whistle for a foul on Gabriel Magalhaes by Marc Pubill just moments earlier. But Beckham argued Gabriel was never fouled in the first place, meaning that Atletico should have been given a spot-kick as he felt Griezmann was brought down.
Speaking on his Beckham & Friends watchalong show, Beckham said: "Oh my god. Oh that's not a foul. That is not a foul. This [Calafiori challenge] is! Yep! That wasn’t a foul on Gabriel."
Actor Tom Hiddleston hit back at Beckham's claim and argued that the foul on Griezmann was "the same motion" as the one on Eberechi Eze that wasn’t given in the first leg.
But Beckham responded: "Well, I didn't think that was a penalty. I don't think he touched him."
Atleti boss Diego Simeone delivered his verdict on the controversial moment involving Griezmann and Calafiori post-match, and revealed he didn't want to "dwell" on the incident.
"I won't dwell on a simple matter like the Griezmann incident," Simeone said. "It was very clear, and we understand there was a foul by Pubill on one of their players. We believe he made the correct call in that situation."
He continued: "There's no point in discussing it further, as that would be making excuses, and I don't want to search for excuses. There is nothing more to say. We are out of the tournament. We congratulate Arsenal; they competed well, and I admire their team and coach."
Asked more about his side's overall performance at the Emirates Stadium, Simeone said: "We got to a place nobody imagined, competing with a team with incredible power.
"I feel proud to be where I am. In pre-season, when the team was presented, I said we'd compete. And we competed. Unfortunately we haven't won anything, but we've gotten to places it isn't easy to get to."