There’s real fire in the second leg of the CL semi-final — and not just because PSG extended their aggregate lead to two goals with an early strike. By now, fierce debate has already erupted over two decisions by Portuguese referee Joao Pinheiro.
First, the ball hit the hand of already booked Nuno Mendes near the halfway line. However, because the referee had spotted a handball by Konrad Laimer a few milliseconds earlier while controlling the ball, PSG were awarded the free kick rather than Bayern. Had the call gone Bayern’s way here, there would likely have been serious talk of a second yellow and a sending-off (29′).
The red-and-white protests were even more emphatic two minutes later. In an attempted clearance inside his own penalty area, Vitinha blasted the ball onto the hand of his teammate Joao Neves. A lot of people — especially those backing the Bavarian giants — would have loved to see a penalty given here. The Allianz Arena certainly made its feelings heard.
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.
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But as we all know, interpreting the handball rule is a science in itself anyway. Bayern certainly don’t feel they’ve been treated fairly.
What do you think? How would you have ruled 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.
