The UEFA 'slip-up' that ignites social media: Atlético instead of Real Madrid

In a fact as curious as it is striking, UEFA recently starred in an error that has not gone unnoticed by an important group of Internet users, especially for those who are followers of Real Madrid and Atlético. On its official website, in the middle of the live broadcast of the match between Paris Saint-Germain and Aston Villa (3-1), a graphic could be seen that left more than one viewer perplexed.E

The strange incident arose when the UEFA website broadcast showed an image reflecting the pairings in the knockout phase of the quarter-finals of the Champions League 2024-25. In it, the governing body of European football had an unexpected slip-up.

What slip-up did UEFA make?

In the upper right part of the knockout bracket shown by UEFA in its official broadcast, it can be clearly seen that in the section of the key that faces Arsenal and Real Madrid (3-0), the 'gunner' shield appeared, but, to everyone's surprise, the other emblem that accompanied the English team was not that of the merengue club.

By chance —or perhaps not—, the shield that appeared was that of Atlético de Madrid, a team that the white team left behind in the round of 16, after beating them in a tie full of controversy. A controversy that, by the way, is still giving a lot to talk about, especially for the penalty executed by Julián Álvarez in the final shootout and his alleged double touch, a play that continues to generate debate.

More and more images are emerging that support the version of the colchonero team, to the point that it is already argued that the video that shows that alleged double touch could be manipulated. This was stated by José Luis Rivas, expert in the complaint filed by the International Union of Atlético Supporters Clubs, during his most recent intervention in the Cadena SER. There he declared:

"The video that comes from a camera is not the original. Whether it is manipulated or not implies bad faith, so we cannot say that. But that it is not the original from the camera, yes. Obviously it is edited. We say so in the analysis in different places. We compare the video from television with the one offered by the Unión de Peñas and in one we see how the entropy is uniform and in the other it is constantly going up and down, so it does not come from the original from the camera", he commented.

Reactions on social media to UEFA's oversight

Returning to the issue of the incident with the UEFA oversight, the reactions on social media were immediate. Most of them were in favor of Atlético de Madrid. Many colchoneros fans did not hesitate to point out that this error could have been the result of a "remorse" or a "betrayal of the subconscious" by the organization chaired by Aleksander Čeferin, in relation to its role in the controversial elimination of the rojiblanco team.

From the merengue side, on the other hand, far from taking the situation seriously, they opted for humor and considered the fact as a kind of 'trolling' by UEFA. Now, it is not clear whether it was a simple omission or a small error, but what is clear is that it is a situation as unexpected as it is curious.