The debates about the video evidence should not be quieter: RB Leipzig was slowed down early on by a hand penalty in the second leg of the Champions League in the second leg of the Champions League away from Manchester City. Bitter: The penalty that Erling Haaland used to score the first of his five goals in the 7-0 win was once again only given after the video assistant (VAR) intervened. An annoyance that even called the Bundesliga competition into action: “We need a change in ‘handball penalty decisions’. It’s going in the wrong direction”Mats Hummels from Borussia Dortmund supported his Leipzig colleagues with a tweet.
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The Slovenian referee Slavko Vincic decided on a penalty after a handball by RB defender Benjamin Henrichs in the 20th minute – but only a few moments later and after consulting the video assistant. Henrichs had stretched out his arm in the aerial duel with Rodri and also touched the ball slightly, but he could hardly be accused of intention. A clear wrong decision not to give the penalty at first? Vincic decided so and caused new discussions.
Sammer: “Inexplicable for me”
In addition to Hummels, former Bundesliga referee Wolfgang Stark could also understand Leipzig’s displeasure: “Once again, a scene where you can of course discuss. Is it a natural hand movement or is the arm spread out,” said Stark in his role as referee -Expert at Prime Video. “You can accept the penalty kick. In my opinion, I wouldn’t have given it.” Matthias Sammer also puzzled after the decision Prime: “It’s just inexplicable for me at this level.” There had already been major referee discussions last week after Borussia Dortmund’s departure with a 2-0 defeat at Chelsea.
Regardless of the discussions and the Leipzig protests, the penalty was taken. Ex-BVB professional Haaland gave Leipzig goalkeeper Jannes Blaswich no chance and confidently converted into the bottom right corner (22nd). It got even worse for the guests from Saxony: After a crossbar hit from a distance by city ace Kevin De Bruyne, Haaland dusted it off five minutes later to make it 2-0 (24th) and tied the hat-trick before the break after a corner ( 45.+2). The quarter-finals were therefore a long way off for RB after just 45 minutes – also because of the penalty decision. In the second round, the Bundesliga team went under completely: the final score was 7:0.
