Goals, stars, a completely crazy turnaround… and a big refereeing controversy! This Real Madrid-Bayern Munich Champions League semi-final definitely had everything in terms of drama.
While the Madrilenians had managed to turn around, thanks to a double from the improbable Joselu, a situation that got off to a bad start after Alphonso Davies’ opener, the Munich side threw their last strength into the battle.
On an opening in the depth of the last chance, Thomas Müller and Matthijs de Ligt go on the edge of offside. In a two-on-one battle between the German striker and a Madrid defender, the ball returned to the Dutchman who controlled and struck the opposite net. But Lunin, the Real Madrid goalkeeper, had stopped playing. And for good reason…
Mr. Marciniak’s assistant had raised his flag to signal the illegal position of the Munich residents. A choice supported by the main referee who blew the whistle immediately. The goal, scored after the whistle, was obviously not awarded and the action, having been stopped, could not be watched by the VAR. However, there was enough to give work to the video bus as the position of the Munich players seemed close to that of the last Madrid defender. This is what bothers De Ligt, vehement at the end of the match at the microphone of BeIN Sports: “If it is not a clear offside, we must continue to play. Whistling like that in the last minutes is a huge mistake. You have to check. »
“It’s a bit scandalous that he whistled”
The hapless defender continued: “I spoke with the referee. If it is not clear for offside, you have to play. It’s a bit scandalous that he whistled. It’s like Joselu’s second goal. It was almost offside and it continued to play. He scored, they saw the video afterwards and it was a goal. Why not for us? »
If he recognizes that there is “perhaps offside”, he does not lose his temper and even addressed the assistant referee at the end of the match who, according to the player, replied: “I am Sorry I made a mistake. » A fine player, De Ligt nevertheless recognized that this whistle did not alone decide the outcome of the match: “In the end, it’s always easy to talk about the referee. Real Madrid won and they deserve it. »
Immortals in the Champions League, and sometimes helped by favorable conditions, their detractors will say, the people of Madrid will see Wembley while the people of Munich have confirmation this Wednesday evening that they will experience a season without a trophy, a first since the 2011-2012 season.