It was a football game that will be remembered for a long time. 90 minutes plus 15 minutes of stoppage time were necessary before Real Madrid advanced to the final of the Champions League with a 2-1 (0-0) win over FC Bayern following a 2-2 draw in the first leg. It was a game that had everything to offer and was a bit reminiscent of the 1999 Champions League final. Back then, Bayern were 1-0 up once morest Manchester United until the 90th minute before Manchester United turned the game around with two goals in added time.
And yet in the end it was less the two late goals from Real joker Joselu (88th, 91st) that were talked regarding. Nor was the mistake made by Bayern keeper Manuel Neuer, who, following a brilliant performance earlier in the 1-1 draw, let an easy-to-hold ball rebound.
Much worse was the chain of errors made by the referee team around the Pole Szymon Marciniak, which caused the waves to flare up. After the game, the referee had no choice but to apologize for the serious mistake in the 14th (!) minute of injury time.
Two errors by the referee team
In the event of a controversial offside situation, it was only the assistant who raised the flag. That was the first mistake. He should have let the game run without a signal and only raised the flag when the action was completed. The second – and even bigger mistake – was that Marciniak immediately blew the whistle off the situation before Matthijs de Ligt scored a few moments later to make it 2-2. That was also a clear wrong decision. The referees are required to allow the situation to continue in order to give the VAR the opportunity to intervene. He should have ignored the assistant’s signal for now.
It doesn’t matter whether it was actually a narrow offside in the end or not. It is also secondary to whether Real goalkeeper Andrej Lunin might have reacted differently. The whistle blew before the shot. It is possible that the keeper noticed him immediately. The bottom line is that the referee should have acted differently according to the regulations.
Laimer: “Let’s finish playing”
Bayern were therefore rightly angry. Konrad Laimer: “It feels like he lets everything happen the whole game. In the 90th + 15th, when we go forward once more, he immediately whistles for offside. I don’t understand that. We can’t change anything anyway, I already noticed it in the game noticed and thought to myself: ‘Great, you don’t have to whistle right away, let’s finish playing.’ It’s very unnecessary in my opinion. It’s not like we’re playing for fun, it’s a shame.”
“Not the time for apologies”
Bayern coach Thomas Tuchel: “Of course we accept the referee’s apology as sportsmen,” said Tuchel: “But it’s a semi-final. It’s not the moment for apologies, honestly.” Then the coach, who had been deprived of a happy ending for Bayern, became angry. “Everyone has to reach the limit. Everyone has to suffer. Everyone has to play without mistakes. The referees at this level have to do the same.”
Author
Harald Bartl
Deputy Head of Sports Department
Harald Bartl
