Atlético de Madrid were denied what would have been a decisive second goal against Manchester United on the second matchday of the 2026-27 Champions League league phase, after VAR intervention led referee Glenn Nyberg to disallow Johnny Cardoso’s finish for an alleged handball by Marcos Llorente in the build-up.
The Swedish official reviewed the incident with assistance from the video team and ruled that Llorente had handled the ball before Cardoso scored. The decision prevented Atlético from moving 2-0 ahead in a match carrying major early weight in the new league-phase campaign.
Former international referee Eduardo Iturralde González questioned both the call on the pitch and the threshold used for VAR involvement. His view was that the available replays did not clearly establish contact with Llorente’s hand, let alone a punishable offence.
“If the referee has given it, he must believe the handball was deliberate,” Iturralde said. “But I do not think it is even handball. I cannot see it.”
He added that VAR should only step in for a clear and obvious error, arguing that the footage he had seen did not provide conclusive evidence of contact. In that reading, the problem lay with the video review rather than Nyberg’s ultimate interpretation.
For Atlético, the overturned goal altered the shape of a European night against English opposition: a potential two-goal cushion disappeared, leaving the contest and its consequences for the club’s Champions League week far more finely balanced.
