Champions League Bayern quarrel after handball – Is this a child’s mistake?
Bayern around Harry Kane (r) were not satisfied with the referee’s decisions. photo
© John Walton/PA Wire/dpa
Would that have been the victory? Bayern are struggling after the 2-2 draw at Arsenal because of a handball. Even shortly before the end there was no penalty.
The stars of FC Bayern Munich took the anger over this missed penalty with them into the night.
“I know what the referee wants if he lets things continue, but I don’t think he can ignore the laws,” said leading player Thomas Müller after the 2-2 draw in the quarter-final first leg of the Champions League Arsenal FC. “What you have to remember is that this can be decisive for the game and we actually can’t put up with that.” A referee is there to implement the rules.
What was meant was a scene in the second half in which Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya played a goal kick to Gabriel, who was positioned in the six-yard box. The Brazilian picked up the ball in his hand, put it back on the turf and passed it back to Raya, the game continued. Referee Glenn Nyberg from Sweden blew the whistle shortly before the goal kick was taken.
Kane: The clearest penalty
“We should have had a clear penalty when the referee blew his whistle, the goalkeeper passed the ball and Gabriel took it in his hand. That’s the clearest penalty I’ve ever seen,” said star striker Harry Kane.
The referee told the players that it was a kid’s mistake and that he wouldn’t whistle that in a quarter-final of the Champions League, reported coach Thomas Tuchel. “This is a completely new form of rule interpretation.”
Joshua Kimmich said that for him it wasn’t a “childish mistake, in the end it was crucial and bitter that we didn’t get him.” Tuchel also criticized the fact that the Arsenal professionals could complain “however they want”.
Former referee Merk has a divided opinion
Former referee Markus Merk criticized his Swedish colleague Nyberg, but can understand his decision. “When you look at the entire situation and the immediate context of the whistle when it is first taken, the meaning and spirit of football speaks against a penalty decision. For everyone who speaks of the biggest wrong decision or even of fraud: Who wants to have a penalty against them in this situation? ” said Merk (62) when asked.
In terms of rules, there was no discussion in this case; there should have been penalties, explained Merk. “Especially when professionals, even at this level, make such mistakes, they have to be sanctioned. How else am I supposed to explain to the Bambinikicker that he is not allowed to do it when he has seen that Arsenal star Gabriel does this too?” said the long-time Bundesliga and FIFA referee Merk.
Merk saw a beginner’s mistake, especially with the referee. Nyberg’s whistle immediately before the goal kick was taken was unnecessary and therefore irritated the Arsenal player. “Annoying,” said Merk.
Excitement in the final minute too
On the Bayern side, the late upset when Bukayo Sako fell in the penalty area after contact with Manuel Neuer in stoppage time was not a topic of conversation to the same extent. Nyberg clearly decided against a penalty – and ended the game quite abruptly a little later. The hosts would have really liked this penalty a week before the second leg in Munich.
Merk believes the referee’s decision was correct. In the situation, Saka “almost sought contact, the foul, the penalty” with a kick.
Lothar Matthäus, on the other hand, would have given the penalty in added time rather than the one in the Arsenal penalty area, as he told the “Münchner Merkur/tz” – “although it wasn’t 100 percent for me either,” as he noted. The Germany record international player would not have whistled the hand penalty. “If the rule is such that the referee doesn’t have to release the ball at all – and he blows his whistle all of a sudden – the defender thinks: Hello? What is the referee doing now? Why is he blowing the whistle? That’s why it wasn’t a hand penalty for me.”
dpa
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