“You do that to me and I’ll start running after you” - Emi Martinez reacts hilariously to Julian Alvarez scoring Panenka penalty against Real Madrid

Argentina goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez has reacted to Julian Alvarez's Panenka penalty against Real Madrid during their 1-1 draw in LaLiga on Saturday (February 8). Using the popular method, Alvarez scored Atletico Madrid's only goal of the night in the 35th minute.

The Panenka penalty refers to a technique where the striker taps the ball into the center of the goal instead of shooting on the left or right. The method is usually intended to deceive the goalkeeper who is usually expected to dive on either side for the save. Alvarez successfully scored the Panenka penalty against Los Blancos shot-stopper Thibaut Courtois, giving Atletico Madrid a 1-0 lead.

However, Real Madrid equalized five minutes into the second half, courtesy of a Kylian Mbappe goal. The draw left Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid on 50 and 49 points on the LaLiga table, respectively.

In one of Julian Alvarez's Instagram posts, Aston Villa and Argentina shot-stopper Emiliano Martinez jokingly commented on his compatriot's Panenka penalty. He wrote (translation from Spanish):

"You do that to me and I’ll start running after you."

Julian Alvarez and Emiliano Martinez have shared the pitch in 35 games for Argentina. The two were a part of the La Albiceleste 2022 FIFA World Cup squad that won the tournament. Meanwhile, Alvarez has also faced Martinez in two games in the Premier League, winning and losing one each.

The Argentine striker left Manchester City to join Atletico Madrid in the summer of 2024. In 36 games for Los Colchoneros, he has contributed 17 goals and four assists.

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"People in football don't understand" - Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti calls out referee over controversial penalty decision vs Atletico Madrid

Real Madrid CF v Atletico de Madrid - La Liga EA Sports - Source: Getty

In the post-match press conference, Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti criticized the referee for granting a controversial penalty against them, which was converted by Atletico Madrid's Julian Alvarez. The Italian tactician said (via GOAL):

"The VAR blew the penalty, [but] the referee was close to the situation and saw what happened. I saw that the VAR whistled a similar penalty in Athletic Club against Girona. The people of football do not understand this."

He added:

"I don’t want to get into the controversy. I prefer to talk about the match. We came out of the game with a draw, encouraged. The team was good, especially in the second half."

The VAR granted a penalty to Los Colchoneros after Aurelien Tchouameni seemingly stamped on Samuel Lino's foot inside the box. The incident occurred days after Real Madrid released a statement criticizing the refereeing system in LaLiga after their 1-0 loss to Espanyol on February 1.

The Spanish giants also refused to attend a meeting with the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), LaLiga, the referees, and other clubs in the league in protest.