There’s real fire in the second leg of the Champions League semifinal — and not just because PSG extended their aggregate lead to two goals with an early strike. By now, fierce debates have already erupted over not one but two decisions by Portuguese referee Joao Pinheiro.
First, the ball struck the hand of already-booked Nuno Mendes near the halfway line. However, because the referee had called a handball by Konrad Laimer a few milliseconds earlier while controlling the ball, PSG were awarded a free kick instead of Bayern. Had the decision gone Bayern’s way here, there would likely have been serious talk about a second yellow and a red card (29’).
The red-and-white protests were even more intense two minutes later. Vitinha blasted the ball against his teammate Joao Neves’ hand while trying to clear it inside his own penalty area. A lot of people — especially those backing the Bavarian side — would have loved to see a penalty given here. Unsurprisingly, the noise level inside the Allianz Arena rose accordingly.
But the referee’s whistle stayed silent, and VAR did not intervene either. Presumably the correct decision, because if the ball is being cleared out of the penalty area and that is prevented by a teammate, it is one of the criteria for a non-punishable handball.
Advertisement
That said, the interpretation of the handball rule is — as we all know — a science in itself anyway. Bayern certainly don’t feel they’ve been treated fairly.
What do you think? How would you have decided in the two controversial situations? Write it in the comments!
This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.
Read the full article here