Referee Letexier validated the goal, initially disallowed, after checking it at the VAR. The ball seems to graze Alex Baena’s arm
The first slow motion episode of Atletico-Inter arrives after less than ten minutes. This is the action: the Spaniards attack from the right at speed, the ball is deflected by Bastoni and caroms to the center, where Carlos Augusto, in a split, deflects it onto the body of Alex Baena. The ball first impacts the side of Simeone’s 10 and then caroms against the Inter Brazilian again, before being caught and kicked by Julian Alvarez into the goal: 1-0 for Atletico. Referee Letexier, however, initially annulled the goal due to a touch of Baena’s arm, only to then validate it after reviewing the action at VAR. At reduced speed it seems that the ball – after touching the player’s side – impacts slightly on the right hand of Atletico’s number 10. Doubts remain.