Real Madrid’s night at the Riyadh Air Metropolitano turned in the 52nd minute. Referee Miguel Angel Ortiz Arias first booked Dean Huijsen and pointed to the spot. VAR then sent him to the monitor. The yellow became a red. Alejandro Grimaldo scored the penalty, Jonathan David added a second, and Atletico Madrid took control of the LaLiga derby while Jose Mourinho’s side played the rest of the match with 10 men.
The first half had finished 0-0. Early in the second, Atletico broke the press. David Hancko launched a long ball into the channel. Giuliano Simeone, son of the home manager, got across Huijsen, chested it down and looked set to run through on Thibaut Courtois.
Huijsen reached for the attacker rather than the ball. He grabbed Giuliano’s arm inside the area. Ortiz Arias immediately awarded a penalty and showed only a yellow. Denzel Dumfries was booked for protesting. On the Atletico bench, Diego Simeone and his staff demanded a sending-off.
The review was not about whether it was a penalty. That part stood. The question was the colour of the card.
Under IFAB’s Laws of the Game, a defender who denies an obvious goalscoring opportunity inside the box is usually shown a yellow if he is challenging for the ball and a penalty is given. The punishment changes when the offence is holding, pulling or pushing, or when the defender has no realistic chance of playing the ball. In those cases, the referee must give both a penalty and a red card.
That is what VAR official Trujillo Suarez flagged. Replays showed Huijsen making no attempt to play the ball. He held Giuliano after the forward had already won the race. Ortiz Arias cancelled the yellow and showed a straight red.
(More to follow)
