Bayern Munich left-back Alphonso Davies dealt with a Dembélé cross contained in the penalty space at shut vary. There was no intent: the ball first struck Davies on the hip earlier than rebounding onto his hand. Video assistant referee Carlos del Cerro Grande intervened, and, after reviewing the footage, referee Schärer awarded a penalty.
“The left arm extends and will increase the defensive floor space. The left arm comes out and will increase the blocking floor. In my opinion, it’s undoubtedly a punishable handball as a result of the physique floor space is widened. Primarily based on these photographs, the choice was right,” mentioned main referee skilled Lutz Wagner, backing the official’s name. Kimmich, nevertheless, was removed from satisfied: “That’s actually irritating, as a result of there’s no opponent behind him who may have scored. The rule may use a tweak.” The 31-year-old added that he would like a system the place not each handball within the field robotically results in a penalty, suggesting as a substitute a much less extreme sanction for such unintended incidents.
Bayern Munich supervisor Vincent Kompany known as the incident “extremely debatable”, whereas sporting director Max Eberl added within the combined zone: “There’s loads to debate. The ball hits the physique first, then the hand, so maybe it shouldn’t have been given. However what’s the purpose of getting labored up now? Sadly, he blew the whistle.”
Two Prime specialists and former internationals, Christoph Kramer and Mats Hummels, additionally criticised the choice. “It’s that tremendous slow-motion once more; that’s the worst factor in soccer, it makes all the pieces look a lot worse,” complained Kramer. Hummels added, “After the shot, the hand flails away, which makes it look worse. The ball bounces off the hip; I at all times thought that shouldn’t be a penalty.”