Julián Álvarez was “incredulous” after his penalty kick was disallowed in Atlético Madrid‘s Champions League round-of-16 defeat to Real Madrid, a source told ESPN, although footage appeared to show the forward accepting the possibility that he’d touched the ball twice in conversation with teammates.

Atlético prevailed 1-0 at the Metropolitano on Wednesday thanks to Conor Gallagher‘s early goal, levelling the tie at 2-2, but Real went through in a penalty shootout to face Arsenal in the quarterfinals.

Álvarez’s penalty was disallowed after a VAR check determined that he had touched the ball twice, once with each foot, before beating Madrid keeper Thibaut Courtois.

A source close to the Atlético Madrid dressing room told ESPN that Álvarez had not felt that he had touched the ball twice, and his shot had ended up where he intended it to.

Álvarez was “incredulous” at the decision — which sparked initial confusion inside the stadium — because he had not seen any clear-cut images which conclusively proved that the spot kick should have been disallowed, the source said.

However, ESPN footage of Álvarez’s conversation with teammates in the centre circle, seconds after the penalty was ruled out, seemed to show him acknowledging the possibility.

“I don’t know,” Álvarez appeared to say, when asked if he’d touched it twice. “I could have, but I don’t know.”

Atlético coach Diego Simeone also questioned the decision on Wednesday, challenging journalists in his post-match news conference to “raise their hands” if they had seen the ball move.

Real Madrid forward Rodrygo told TNT Sports Brazil that his teammates had “put pressure on the referee” to disallow the penalty.

“I was on the bench, and the way the ball left his boot was very strange, as if he’d touched it twice,” Rodrygo said. “We had a camera behind us and they started shouting ‘two touches, two touches.’ Then we started to put pressure on the referee and he saw it.”

Coach Carlo Ancelotti denied on Wednesday that Madrid’s staff had alerted the referee to the incident, saying that the VAR officials had already been aware.