Retired English referee Mark Clattenburg admitted that he awarded an illegal goal to Real Madrid in the 2016 Champions League final, and confirmed that he tried to compensate Atletico Madrid for this error.
The final between Real Madrid and its neighbor Atletico Madrid at Sansero Stadium in Milan, Italy, and ended with the victory of the Royal Club on penalties, with a 1-1 draw at the end of the original time of the match.
Sergio Ramos scored the goal for Real in the 15th minute, but the English referee said in new statements that the goal was not to be counted because Ramos was in a sequence position after receiving the ball from his colleague Gareth Bale, and indicated that he could not communicate with the assistant referee to confirm the shot.
Clattenburg added, in the statements reported by the Spanish newspaper "Marca", "I noticed that Bale touched the ball, which made it easier for Ramos to score from an offside position. I asked my assistant if there was that touch from Bale after the free kick. I could not communicate with him and I was "I had to restart the match. Then the assistant called me and told me that the microphone and headphones had stopped working at that time. I was very confused. It was a very difficult decision."
⚽️ Sergio Ramos scores the opener in 2016 final…#UCL |
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— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) January 13, 2021
The English referee indicated that he awarded Atletico Madrid a penalty kick later in an attempt to compensate them for his wrong decision to award Ramos' goal, and said, "I was very lucky in that final, because I was in front of a penalty that can be awarded or condoned by 50%. It's clear on Pepe, and there was a mistake. Was there really a mistake? It was related to my personal judgment and I whistled because it restored the balance between the two teams" after the decision to calculate the first goal.
The referee did not hide his joy after striker Antoine Griezmann missed the penalty because the fans will forget his mistake and focus on the missed penalty. "Griezmann hit the ball and hit the crossbar, so I said: This is great, it's my day, it's a perfect day for the referee. Atletico had the opportunity to equalize after The offside goal and they missed. Now they can't blame me because Griezmann had the chance to score."
Real Madrid's victory in that final was the beginning of the control of the team that was coached by Zinedine Zidane, as he crowned the championship in 3 consecutive seasons, which strengthened the club's balance at the forefront of the teams that crowned the title with 13 titles.