How much can happen in four seconds?
Where do you even begin with a play like the one that came at the end of Atlético Madrid’s 2-2 Champions League draw with Bayer Leverkusen?
The simple version is that Atléti, thanks to Porto’s 4-0 rout of Club Brugge earlier in the day, needed to win to have any chance of advancing out of Group B. With the score tied in stoppage time, they were awarded a penalty kick via VAR, only for Yannick Carrasco to see his shot saved by Lukáš Hrádecký. The match finished level, and now the La Liga club is out of the Champions League, and could even end up out of Europe entirely if results go the wrong way on matchday six.
The long version is truly a journey.
First, the situation: it’s 2-2 in the sixth minute of five given minutes of stoppage time. Atlético had sent Jan Oblak up for a corner, and nearly everyone at the Estadio Metropolitano was dying to see a goal for the home side. Carrasco drove the ball in, but Leverkusen won the race to the ball, and in fact Oblak’s wild falling kick attempt was the closest anyone in red and white came to the ball. Leverkusen got it clear, and referee Clément Turpin almost immediately blew for full time.
Atlético players made some half-hearted appeals for handball, but most followed Diego Simeone’s example and began trudging off to the locker rooms. Before Simeone could even get to Xabi Alonso for a handshake, though, Turpin gave the global signal for “hey, VAR is trying to talk to me.”
Rodrigo De Paul and Mitchel Bakker arrived to lobby Turpin, before quickly beginning to try to shove one another aside to better argue their case. Within seconds, 15 of the 22 players on the field were within arm’s reach of Turpin, while Simeone was hopping up and down and tapping his own arm.
De Paul and Nadiem Amiri nearly started to scuffle, and much to the chagrin of every Leverkusen player and fan, Turpin finally got confirmation that he should go check the monitor, and made his way through a wall of Leverkusen staffers, officials, and unused substitutes to take a look.
What was there to check, though? A very close look at the replay showed that Axel Witsel’s glancing flick-on attempt grazed the hand of Leverkusen’s Piero Hincapié, which then redirected the ball into Odilon Kossounou’s upper arm.
Handball? Turpin said yes after barely five seconds of replays, and calmly pointed to the spot. Hrádecký, who had taken his gloves off thinking the game was over, had to put them back on to face Carrasco.
As the ninth minute of stoppage time — again, we started with five — was nearly over, Carrasco went with power, and then all of the following things happened in a four-second span:
- Hrádecký dove left and slapped the shot away with both hands
- Hrádecký’s save sent the ball right back at the crowd of sprinting players. Saúl Ñíguez was perfectly placed and didn’t even have to break stride to go up and nod the ball into the now-unguarded net. Hrádecký was in the process of getting back up as he watched that attempt sail over him and…hit the bar
- Atlético’s Reinildo Mandava had arrived behind the pack, and the rebound fell right to him. Mandava fired what looked sure to be the game-winner, keeping it low, only for the ball to hit the unwitting Carrasco in the heel and go over and out of play
- Bakker did what can only be called a scream-grind against Carrasco, nearly entirely circling him while celebrating the miss
Four seconds!
However, just as everyone tried to regain their sanity, Turpin indicated that he was listening to VAR again, as the penalty was being checked for encroachment. Replays showed Hrádecký maintaining perfect form, just barely keeping one toe on the line…but also possible encroachment from Bakker, whose entire body was inside the 18-yard box save for his feet.
A few tense seconds — except for Turpin, who seemed quite relaxed through all of this — passed, before the game was officially ended with no re-take.
Atlético must now equal or better Leverkusen’s result on the final day to even claim a trip to the Europa League, which will be difficult given that they’re at Porto while the Germans host Club Brugge.
Watch the madness at the end of Atlético vs. Leverkusen
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