Bayern Munich were left incensed after a controversial handball decision went against them during their Champions League semi-final second leg against Paris Saint-Germain. Trailing 1-0 on the night and two goals down on aggregate after 30 minutes, the German side thought they had been handed a lifeline when a clearance from Vitinha struck the arm of team-mate Joao Neves. However, referee Joao Pinheiro waved play on, and VAR did not intervene.
The decision was explained by the laws of the game, which state that there is an exemption to the handball rule when the ball is kicked by a team-mate, even if the arm is away from the body. The exemption can be overridden only if the handball is deemed deliberate, which was not the case here as the ball hit Neves unexpectedly. Harry Kane, who would have taken the resulting penalty, was visibly angry and demanded an explanation from the referee.
Earlier in the match, another flashpoint occurred when PSG left-back Nuno Mendes avoided a second yellow card for handball. Pinheiro initially blew his whistle but then, after consulting his fourth official, decided that Bayern's Konrad Laimer had also handled the ball in the build-up, cancelling out Mendes' infringement.
Post-match, Bayern manager Vincent Kompany labelled the officiating across both legs as 'ridiculous'. 'We have to look at some of the phases that were decided by the officials across the two games which… it's never an excuse for everything but it matters,' he said. 'If we look at both legs probably too much went against us. The guys gave everything and we tried against a fantastic PSG team.'
Bayern CEO Jan-Christian Dreesen also criticised the referee's experience, telling Sky Germany: 'It's astonishing, to say the least, that a referee with only 15 Champions League appearances is allowed to take charge of such a match. And that perhaps also explains some of the decisions.' The match finished 1-1 after Kane's late equaliser, but Bayern were eliminated from the competition.
