The penalty whistle in favor of FC Chelsea and the repetition of the penalty by Kai Havertz when Borussia Dortmund was eliminated from the Champions League caused confusion and a lot of trouble in the BVB camp. Matthias Sammer and Emre Can chose drastic words after the game.
“The penalty and the repetition is a real scandal. It’s not the first time that Borussia Dortmund has hit it,” said Sammer, who also acts as an external advisor to BVB, in his role as an expert Amazon Prime about referee Danny Makkelie after Borussia’s 2-0 defeat.
Sammer continued: “Something like that just doesn’t work. I don’t need a rule keeper either. There is personality for such situations. Makkelie is a very, very arrogant person. As a referee, you have a certain charisma and modesty.”
The trigger for the former coach’s displeasure is based on two controversial scenes surrounding Havertz’s penalty goal in the 53rd minute to make it 2-0 for Chelsea, which sealed the end of Borussia Dortmund. Marius Wolf got the ball on his left arm after a Ben Chilwell cross. After a tip from the video referee, Makkelie decided to watch the scene again and finally pointed to the point.
However, there was no clear wrong decision that justified a VAR intervention: Wolf had increased his body area, but an unnatural hand movement was not visible. The even greater excitement was to follow a few moments later.
Havertz put the penalty on the right post, but got a second chance because some BVB players ran into the penalty area too early. At the same time, the pictures showed that several Chelsea professionals were in the sixteen before the German international graduated. Havertz ultimately converted the second attempt.
“It wasn’t the best feeling when I missed the first shot. But then I was lucky, although I don’t know why the penalty was repeated. I’m glad I helped the team,” said Havertz Amazon Prime and admitted: “I think we would be just as angry if it had gone that way for us.”
BVB: Sammer and Can rumble about referees
“If that’s the rule that’s supposed to be there, I’d say to every one of my players, ‘Look, we’ll go in twice and if you’re safe the third time, that’s fine.’ That doesn’t make any sense from a sporting point of view,” said Sammer.
In fact, the rule states that it was a technically correct replay. Also, if a player of the team awarded a penalty finishes early, the attempt must be made again. If Havertz had scored, the penalty kick would have been repeated according to the rules.
“I would have been very curious if he would have repeated it if the ball was in and a Chelsea player was first in the box,” coach Edin Terzic questioned the latter scenario.
For Emre Can, the reason for Borussia Dortmund’s elimination was solely the referee from the Netherlands: “The referee was to blame. How can you give the second penalty? I don’t understand it. I don’t give a damn who ran in before. He hits the post. Done. Out.”
Then the midfielder accused Makkelie of arrogance. Allegedly, he would have ignored the BVB professionals during the half-time break. Can also suspected that the referee was afraid of the Chelsea fans. “Then UEFA should send another referee, that’s just not possible. It’s extremely painful when you’re eliminated because of a referee,” he explained.
BVB: Bellingham refrains from harsh criticism
Additionally, Jude Bellingham spoke about a “joke” decision regarding the rerun. Even the original penalty whistle was “disappointing”.
The Englishman refrained from further statements. “I don’t want to get in trouble. I’ve already paid enough to people,” he said, alluding to his accusation against Felix Zwayer after a game against FC Bayern in 2021.
“You give the biggest game in Germany to a referee who has pushed games before. What do you expect?” Bellingham questioned the referee’s impartiality at the time. Afterwards he was fined 40,000 euros by the DFB.
