Courtois takes shot at Atletico amid penalty drama: 'Always crying'

Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois said he's tired of Atletico Madrid's complaints following Wednesday's contentious Champions League encounter, chastising the club for "always crying" about perceived slights.

Real Madrid advanced to the quarterfinals after defeating their bitter city rivals 4-2 on penalties, knocking them out of the tournament for the fifth time in 11 years.

Atletico were incensed after Julian Alvarez's shootout goal was disallowed. The Argentine fired his effort into the roof of the net, but, after a dramatic VAR check that sparked confusion inside the stadium, it was ruled that he touched the ball twice when his foot slipped during his run-up.

Diego Simeone disputed the call after the match, insisting, "The ball doesn't move." Alvarez himself was "incredulous" over the decision, sources told Alex Kirkland and Rodrigo Faez of ESPN.

Courtois had no sympathy.

"It's bad luck for (Alvarez), but it can happen," the Belgian goalkeeper said, according to ESPN. "For UEFA, it's clear. I'm sick of this victimhood, always crying about things like this. Referees don't want to benefit one team or another, not in Spain and not in Europe. For them, it was clear. With the technology, in the VAR room they saw it clearly. They have a lot of cameras and a lot of images."

Courtois said Atletico's approach to the game was to blame for their ouster, questioning why Simeone's side sat back after Conor Gallagher's first-minute goal leveled the tie at 2-2 on aggregate.

"If you're 1-0 up from the first minute and then you don't try to look for the second goal, I think that's where they got the game wrong," he added.

Rodrygo said he and his teammates noticed the double touch from the bench during the shootout and tried to pressure the referee to review the incident.

"I was on the bench, and the way the ball left his boot was very strange, as if he'd touched it twice," the Real Madrid forward told TNT Sports Brazil, as translated by ESPN.

"We had a camera behind us, and they started shouting, 'Two touches, two touches.' Then we started to put pressure on the referee, and he saw it."

Real Madrid have never been eliminated by Atletico in the competition. Los Blancos will now meet Arsenal in the quarterfinals as they look to defend their Champions League crown and claim a record-extending 16th European Cup.