Coincidence? Marciniak has been involved in several controversial decisions favoring Madrid

The Atlético de Madrid experienced one of the probably most controversial episodes in its history in the UEFA Champions League. And how could it not? At their home, the Riyadh Air Metropolitano, they were eliminated from this great continental tournament. They won the return match (1-0), tied the series, but lost it in the penalty shootout in the most unexpected way possible.

The 'colchoneros' had a penalty converted successfully by Julián Álvarez annulled. What was the argument? That the ball hit both feet of the Argentine at the moment of the kick, an action penalized by the rules.

Rule 14 of the IFAB (International Football Association Board): "The kicker may not touch the ball a second time until it has been touched by another player. The rebound off the post or crossbar is not included. If touched, it will be sanctioned with an indirect free kick"

The annulled goal to Julián Álvarez turned out to be key in the penalty shootout for an Atlético de Madrid that saw the series level after Lucas Vázquez's miss for Real Madrid. However, their dream of reaching the quarter-finals faded when Marcos Llorente missed his kick. Thus, the merengue team advanced in a match marked by controversy.

PENALTIES (ATLÉTICO DE MADRID - REAL MADRID)

• (RM) Kylian Mbappé (0-1) ✅
• (ATM) Alexander Sorloth (1-1) ✅
• (RM) Jude Bellingham (1-2) ✅
• (ATM) Julián Álvarez (1-2) ❌
• (RM) Fede Valverde (1-3) ✅
• (ATM) Ángel Correa (2-3) ✅
• (RM) Lucas Vázquez (2-3) ❌
• (ATM) Marcos Llorente (2-3) ❌
• (RM) Antonio Rüdiger (2-4) ✅

Marciniak has been involved in some controversial decisions in matches against Real Madrid

By the way, speaking of controversies, interestingly, this is not the first time a match has seen a controversial decision that ends up favoring Real Madrid and is made by the referee present in the duel between the 'colchoneros' and the merengues, the 44-year-old Polish referee, Szymon Marciniak.

The one from Plock, who became the first referee to annul a goal in a penalty shootout in the UEFA Champions League, by relying solely on the VAR referee's judgment, Tomasz Kwiatkowski, without reviewing the play, was also the protagonist of a decisive decision that favored Real Madrid. This episode occurred in the 2023-24 Champions League edition, where his judgment was crucial for the white team’s qualification to the final.

The controversial goal annulled to Bayern Munich in the return leg of the 'semis' of the 2023-24 Champions League

Szymon Marciniak's judgment was key for Real Madrid to secure their ticket to the final of the UEFA Champions League 2023-24. It is worth remembering that the Pole was the referee in charge of officiating the return leg of the 'semis' of that tournament last season, where the merengues faced Bayern Munich.

The Real Madrid ended up winning 2-1 with a brace from Joselu, answered by a goal from Alphonso Davies, leaving the series with an aggregate score of 4-3 in favor of the Chamartín side. This counting the 2-2 draw in the first leg at the Allianz Arena.

In this match, what exactly happened? Referee Szymon Marciniak decided to annul a goal by Matthijs de Ligt in the final moments of the match, a goal that would have meant a tie in the series and, consequently, an extension of the match into extra time. The annulment was extremely controversial, especially considering that the Polish referee did not follow the usual protocol in such situations.

The regulations require waiting for the play to complete before sanctioning an offside. If the review showed that the play was legal, the goal should have been validated; otherwise, it would have been annulled, without it representing a major problem.

However, by Marciniak hastily stopping the play, the action became void without giving VAR the opportunity to review the play from different angles. At first glance, it seemed that the goal could have been valid, but without the ability to evaluate it properly, a decision was made detrimental to Bayern Munich's intentions to stay alive in that tie.

The annulled goal to Chelsea in the quarter-finals of the 2021-22 Champions League

Not only that, it is also important to remember that in the 2021-22 season, Marciniak also played a decisive role in some way for Real Madrid to advance in the UEFA Champions League. On that occasion, it is worth going back to the return leg of the quarter-finals of the Champions League.

Despite the fact that the merengues had won the first leg 3-1 at Stamford Bridge, at the Santiago Bernabéu the Londoners managed to put up a fight and scored three goals, countered by two from Real Madrid, which could have taken the match into extra time.

In this context, the crucial intervention of Marciniak occurred when Chelsea could have won the tie in regular time. However, the referee annulled a goal by Marcos Alonso for an unintentional handball, a decision that was also reviewed in VAR.

Chelsea's goal annulled! 😱

Marcos Alonso scored the goal that eliminated Real Madrid, but VAR annulled the goal 👀

Was it rightly annulled? 🤔

📽️: @TUDNUSA#UCLpic.twitter.com/7N4lVtQruL

— beIN SPORTS Español (@ESbeINSPORTS) April 12, 2022

However, the action is striking, as it can be seen how the ball first bounces off the knee of the fullback before touching his hand. These successive decisions, which coincidentally have featured Marciniak and Real Madrid, begin to form a rather unusual pattern, don’t you think?