There was, it’s hard to remember, a time in professional football without much technical help. Then the video images to support the referees came into play and changed it. One assumption at the time was that from now on there would be no reason for emotional debates since, in theory, wrong decisions no longer occur. The assumption couldn’t be more wrong. Since the introduction of so-called video evidence, mistakes have been talked about more excitedly than ever.
Tobias Rabe
Editor in charge of Sport Online.
It was therefore astonishing how Leipzig football coach Marco Rose reacted to an obviously wrong decision by referee Irfan Peljto late on Tuesday evening after the first leg of the round of 16 of the Champions League against Real Madrid. Rose, of course, also criticized the team’s mistake, including the assistants in front of the screens, when he said: “I have no idea what was whistled, it wasn’t offside, it wasn’t a foul.” But he didn’t want to “make a referee story out of it.”
But that was it at this point, because the decision influenced the course of the game and the result to a considerable extent. What happened? In the second minute, Leipzig’s Xaver Schlager shot at the Spanish goal after a corner. His attempt went a bit wrong, the ball bounced onto the grass and arced high into the penalty area. Striker Benjamin Sesko stood there and headed the ball into the goal. Leipzig cheers. But there was a problem.
“It’s about offside”
The assistant referee raised the flag and signaled: offside. In the time before the video evidence, the cheering would have died down at this point, the Leipzig team would have complained briefly, then the game would have continued with the score at 0-0. Now there were questioning looks at the referee, who contacted video assistant Pol van Boekel via radio. According to the pictures, the Dutchman gave the Bosnian man on the pitch the recommendation: no goal because of a criminal offside position.
At that moment, the television viewers already knew more than those in the stadium. The supposed goalscorer Sesko was not offside when Schlager shot, but his namesake Benjamin Henrichs was. He was in the forbidden zone when Schlager shot, but didn’t get to the ball. So why was Leipzig’s goal not recognized? Expert Lutz Wagner, once a referee in the Bundesliga and now coach of the German referees, explained the matter on Prime Video.
“The player who scores the goal (Sesko/editor’s note) is not offside. “But it’s not about the player who scores the goal, it’s about the player (Henrichs) who stands behind the goalkeeper,” said Wagner. “And here is the question: Does he influence the goalkeeper in such a way that this is a punishable offside position?” It is definitely not a foul! Because “then the referee would not have given an indirect free kick. So it’s about offside. He also touches the goalkeeper lightly.”
But not every touch is a foul. Wagner digs deep into the rule book: “Does he engage in a duel with the opponent for the ball? The ball isn’t there. Even if he touches it, the decisive factor is whether the goalkeeper would have had a chance of reaching the ball without the contact. That is not the case for me. That’s why it’s an interpretation that you can argue like that, but in my view it’s the wrong interpretation. Goal would have been right. No viewer understands that.”
Sports director Rouven Schröder was most vocal in his criticism of the referee: “I don’t know what we did wrong. It would have been a completely different game if it had been 1-0.” In the end it was indeed 1-0 – but for Real Madrid. Brahim Diaz scored the only acknowledged goal of the evening with a shot into the far corner after a dribble. Rose acknowledged the goalscorer’s splendid individual performance. “He does it wonderfully, you have to accept a goal like that.”
This means the Spaniards are in a good starting position before the second leg on March 6th in their own stadium. Leipzig’s hopes are not great, but coach Rose is concerned about something else. “We are going there to take the next step in development as a team. We definitely want to show ourselves and be the best possible, most difficult opponent.” Real coach Carlo Ancelotti warned: “We have to be careful. Leipzig is a team where you have to suffer. We have a little advantage.”
Published/Updated: Recommendations: 1 Hans-Günter Kellner, Madrid Published/Updated: Recommendations: 20 Published/Updated: Recommendations: 1
This was based not least on the referee’s early decision, with which Rose had hope: “I assume that it will be evaluated and then hopefully they will at least have the insight that they were wrong. If that is the case, then that would be a first step.” The 39-year-old Peljto whistled at this level for the first time. So Rose said, “The boy is only human. That was his first knockout game. Accordingly, I hope he learns from it.”
Real Madrid’s Toni Kroos also understood Leipzig’s lament. When asked on Prime Video how he rated the missed goal, he said: “What can I say? I think he ended up being whistled for offside because he was obstructing him. But the goalkeeper never gets the ball where it needs to go. So it was a goal that should have been given. I can’t get out of there. I can’t find any arguments against that.”
