Referee Mark Clattenburg admits make-up call during 2016 Champions League Final between Real Madrid and Atletico

Former referee Mark Clattenburg has talked to the Brazilian Shirt Name podcast, where he revealed some of his thoughts and actions during the 2016 Champions League Final involving Real Madrid and Atletico de Madrid, which ended in the conquer of the 11th European title for Los Blancos after a penalty shoot-out.

“When the ball gets delivered, I knew there was a touch by Gareth Bale in the middle that then went to Ramos who scored. I said to my assistant, but it was very difficult with the noise: ‘Did you know there was a touch in the middle? You know there’s a touch?’ But he just froze. I could see him looking at the big screen. He completely froze, so about a minute later I restarted the game because I had to,” said Clattenburg.

Then, the referee had something to say about the penalty he called during the second half, which gave Atletico an opportunity to score the equalizer.

“I was very fortunate that two or three minutes after half time, I’m presented with a 50-50 penalty. Torres was really clever getting in front of Pepe to draw a foul. It’s one you wouldn’t want to settle a game on. I gave it to give back the balance. It was one of those perfect scenarios in refereeing and I gave the penalty,” he revealed.

It’s extremely surprising to see a referee admitting that he called a penalty as a make-up call, even if fans and reporters often get that feeling during most games. In the end, Griezmann missed from the spot, Carrasco scored the equalizer and the match was decided through a penalty shoot-out.

if the VAR and the use of technology is going to avoid these scenarios where referees have to balance and to compensate for their previous mistakes, then it’s definitely good to have those tools in modern football.