Why was Alexandre Pato’s goal against Real Madrid ruled out? (video)

“Pato’s disallowed goal? It is a mystery. Sincerely, I don’t know why the referee blew his whistle for.” - Massimo Ambrosini.

The AC Milan midfield was not alone in questioning the referee for ruling out an excellent Alexandre Pato goal against Real Madrid on Tuesday night, as The Duck appeared to be unfairly penalised for what would have been one of the goals of the round.

The most logical explanation appears to be that the officials thought that Pato had committed a handball in the build-up to the goal, even though no such handball ever occurred.

With the scores level at one apiece, a fabulous raking pass picked out Pato who had managed to get on the blindside of Real centre-half Alvaro Arbeola. Incredibly, Pato leapt a couple of feet of the ground to control the ball with a stunning piece of chest-control which not only left the Real defender eating grass as he fell on his face, but also took the number 7 into a goalscoring opportunity. Pato then completed the move was aplomb with a cracking strike into the far corner.

Sadly, referee Felix Brych ruined the moment by wrongly disallowing the goal.

Pato’s superb disallowed goal can be seen here.