The match between Real Madrid and Atletico (2-1) valid for the first leg of the UEFA Champions League 2024-25 has sparked a great debate around a specific action: the goal by Brahim Diaz at 55', which meant the definitive advantage goal for the Merengues, but where it is argued that there could have been a possible interference from Vinicius Jr. in the goal.
No one can deny that the goal by the Spanish-Moroccan was an authentic golazo, as the Malaga-born player, once in possession of the ball in the area, managed to exceptionally free himself from the marking of Jose Maria Gimenez and, without further ado, unleashed a curved right-footed shot. This shot, after passing close to an opponent, ended up sneaking into the goal of a Jan Oblak who, despite his stretch, could not prevent the shot from sneaking in low, close to the left post of the goal guarded by the Slovenian goalkeeper.
However, the idea that the goal could be illegal arises from the involvement of a specific player: Vinicius Jr. Why? The '7', although at no time showed intention to interfere in the play, visibly found himself in an offside position, ends up participating by obstructing Oblak's field of vision. He crosses in front of the '13' of Atletico de Madrid at the precise moment when Brahim Diaz took his shot, being apparently in the line of the shot and very close to it.
Why could Vinicius Jr.'s intervention be clearly classified as obstruction?
Precisely, this obstruction could perfectly fall under the concept of "positional offside", a concept supported by the IFAB (International Football Association Board) in point 2 of rule 11 regarding offside infractions. In this section, it is emphasized that an offside position can be penalized if "the ball touches or is played by a teammate who is actively involved in the game" and, among other things, "prevents an opponent from playing or being able to play the ball, by clearly obstructing the opponent's view".
Although, at first glance, according to the broadcast images, it seems to be what happened, at the time of the match the action was not reviewed in the VAR and there was not a significant protest from the players of Atletico de Madrid. Currently, this serves as the main argument for the Merengues to discard the idea that there was an offside position.
Could Atletico de Madrid have complained about this situation?
However, from the 'colchonero' perspective, once this debate has been opened, they have not hesitated to recall a similar play in which a goal was disallowed. Specifically, one that took place in the 2023-24 season during the match between Real Madrid and Atletico in LaLiga EA Sports, where a goal by Stefan Savic was disallowed for alleged obstruction by Saul Niguez to Andriy Lunin.
This matter will undoubtedly continue to be a subject of debate, as it is a play clearly subject to interpretations, but for the main referee, Clement Turpin, and the VAR referee, Jerome Brisard, it was not considered sufficiently relevant to be penalized. Was it a favor to Real Madrid by the refereeing or a correct performance by the officials in a legitimate goal?