Atletico Struggles to Understand Penalty Call after Losing to Lille

Atletico Madrid's Argentine coach Diego Simeone reacts during the UEFA Champions League, league phase day 3 football match between Club Atletico de Madrid and Lille LOSC at the Metropolitano stadium in Madrid on October 23, 2024. (Photo by OSCAR DEL POZO / AFP)
Atletico Madrid's Argentine coach Diego Simeone reacts during the UEFA Champions League, league phase day 3 football match between Club Atletico de Madrid and Lille LOSC at the Metropolitano stadium in Madrid on October 23, 2024. (Photo by OSCAR DEL POZO / AFP)
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Atletico Struggles to Understand Penalty Call after Losing to Lille

Atletico Madrid's Argentine coach Diego Simeone reacts during the UEFA Champions League, league phase day 3 football match between Club Atletico de Madrid and Lille LOSC at the Metropolitano stadium in Madrid on October 23, 2024. (Photo by OSCAR DEL POZO / AFP)
Atletico Madrid's Argentine coach Diego Simeone reacts during the UEFA Champions League, league phase day 3 football match between Club Atletico de Madrid and Lille LOSC at the Metropolitano stadium in Madrid on October 23, 2024. (Photo by OSCAR DEL POZO / AFP)

Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone and his players were struggling to understand the penalty call that went against them in a 3-1 home loss to Lille in the Champions League on Wednesday.

The penalty was converted by Jonathan David in the 74th minute to give the visitors a 2-1 lead. Lille went on to win 3-1 at the Metropolitano stadium, The Associated Press reported.

The call came after a loose ball inside the area, with Atletico players saying that Italian referee Marco Guida made the decision after seeing a handball by midfielder Koke Resurrección.
Replays did not appear to show any touch by Koke's hands or arms on the ball. It might have touched the hand of a Lille player instead.
It took several moments for the call to be confirmed. Guida did not go to the monitors to review the play.
He did go to the sideline to show a yellow card to Simeone.
“It wasn't a penalty,” Simeone insisted. “We've been watching the replays, the referee must have made a mistake about what he saw, and those on the VAR weren't able to help him.”
It was the second loss in three Champions League matches this season for Atletico.



Bayern Have Attacking Options to Replace Kane, Says Kompany

 Bayern's head coach Vincent Kompany claps hands during the German Bundesliga soccer match between Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich at the Signal-Iduna Park in Dortmund, Germany, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. (AP)
Bayern's head coach Vincent Kompany claps hands during the German Bundesliga soccer match between Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich at the Signal-Iduna Park in Dortmund, Germany, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. (AP)
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Bayern Have Attacking Options to Replace Kane, Says Kompany

 Bayern's head coach Vincent Kompany claps hands during the German Bundesliga soccer match between Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich at the Signal-Iduna Park in Dortmund, Germany, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. (AP)
Bayern's head coach Vincent Kompany claps hands during the German Bundesliga soccer match between Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich at the Signal-Iduna Park in Dortmund, Germany, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. (AP)

Bayern Munich have enough talented players to replace injured striker Harry Kane, starting on Tuesday with their German Cup round of 16 tie against holders Bayer Leverkusen, coach Vincent Kompany.

The England captain, who has netted 20 goals across all competitions this season and leads the Bundesliga scorers' list with 14, suffered a thigh muscle injury in Saturday's 1-1 league draw at Borussia Dortmund.

Kane is expected to be out for a couple of weeks but Kompany said he hoped he could still return to action before the winter break starts on Dec. 22. Bayern are top of the Bundesliga with a four-point lead over Eintracht Frankfurt.

"It is difficult to say at this moment but there is a chance for him to still play this year," Kompany told a press conference on Monday.

"But he will miss several games and to replace him, you know you cannot replace the goals or the player one-for-one. That's why he is a top player."

Kompany said players like Thomas Mueller, Serge Gnabry, Michael Olise and Leroy Sane had enough experience to fill the gap.

"We have talent in the team and need to solve it differently. We won't be lacking talent tomorrow but it will look different," Kompany said.

"We have many options. Thomas Mueller, Mathys Tel, Gnabry, Olise, Leroy. I now named almost everyone. Obviously, Harry has scored 20 goals... but we have dangerous players in attack."

Bayern last won the German Cup in 2020 and have failed to get past the quarter-finals since, losing in the second round in three of the past four seasons.

"We play the Cup holders tomorrow. One of the top two or three games in Germany, and I hope our performance will match the importance of the game," Kompany said.