Analysis of crucial situations in this week's UEFA Champions League matches based on video material - if available..
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| (c) Bundesliga.de |
1) Bayern München - BATE Borisov, refereed by William Collum (SCO)
Scotland's latest Elite Group referee William Collum had to deal with two crucial situations in a match of actually low relevance and importance:
At first, he correctly sent off Bayern's Jerome Boateng for serious foul play. His decision came pretty swiftly and led to some kind of astonishment among Bayern's supporters and the German commentary. Nevertheless, that's the only correct colour for this reckless challenge that could have had a grave impact on his opponent's health [video: 4:10].
In addition, the 33 year old teacher dismissed a Belarusian player for a rarely stupid and obvious dive [6:32]. Additional assistant referee 2 John Beaton probably advised him to take this decision. There may be no doubt about that - the first yellow card against this player was issued for a tactical foul [3:08] and was hence correct, too.
Unfortunately, the general impression of this Scottish team was weakened by a crucial mistake of the first assistant referee Martin Cryans who did not recognize a very tight offside position preceding Bayern's third goal [5:44].
2) Celtic Glasgow - Spartak Moskva, refereed by Felix Brych (GER)
German Elite official Felix Brych had been appointed to take charge of this crucial Group G match. With regard to the draw achieved by Benfica at Camp Nou, Celtic really had to win to qualify for the K.O. stage.
In the 81st minute of play, Greek striker Samaras fell at the edge of the penalty area. Brych immediately pointed to the spot and even if the penalty seems to be provoked and a too harsh decision, there are some replays that clearly show the clumsy contact induced by the Russian defender, so that the penalty was a correct decision [1:18].
Later on, Brych furthermore dismissed Källström for a repeated foul. Regarding the replays and recognizing the fact that the studs were obviously up, a straight red card could have even been possible, but the 2nd yellow card is absolutely acceptable as well [1:35].
3) Chelsea - Nordsjaelland, refereed by Bas Nijhuis (NED)
At Stamford Bridge, a new record has gone into the books of UEFA Champions League's history. It was the first time that a referee has awarded three penalties in one half. In addition, there is surely no other match where three handball penalties had been issued within only seven minutes.
The first penalty to Nordsjaelland is a crucial mistake: The handball itself was well detected, although one probably cannot call it a totally deliberate handball, there are a lot of criteria fulfilled to call this a handball to be penalized. The problem however was: the handball occurred a few centimetres outside the box. Nijhuis himself probably could not see it, his assistant referee Angelo Boonman should have seen it though [0:05].
Only a few moments later, Nijhuis awarded the next penalty, this time to Chelsea and this time, it was a clear and correct call [0:56]; the only controversy could be whether the striker who headed the ball previously fouled his opponent, but my answer is no. Richard Liesveld, Nijhuis' additional assistant, surely helped him in this situation.
The last penalty Nijhuis whistled was again awarded to Chelsea. Nordsjaelland's defender got the ball at his left hand, which was not very close to the body, but not far from it either. The distance was small, there was only a minimum enlargement of his body volume, the hand did not go to the ball. A hard, to my mind, too hard decision [1:52]. This time, Nijhuis took the decision himself.
4) Shakhtar Donetsk - Juventus Turin, refereed by Jonas Eriksson (SWE)
The perpetual issue related to the question of whether a handball should be considered as deliberate or undeliberate was also of relevance at Donetsk's Donbass Arena.
In the early stages of play, Juventus claimed for a penalty after a Shakhtar defender got the ball on his hand [unfortunately not captured by the video]. Surely, the header would have been a dangerous goal attempt. In addition, the body volume was significantly enlarged; nonetheless, this handball should at least not be regarded as completely deliberate or intentional. It was more or less inevitable, but if the Swedish officials had awarded a penalty, the Ukrainian side could not have protested that much. No clear and undoubtful crucial mistake from my point of view.
However, a crucial mistake happened later on when AR2 Daniel Wärnmark did not recognize the tight offside (due to contrary movements), but nonetheless pretty clear offside position of an Italian forward [1:16]. It led to the decisive goal of the match.
I would have liked to include some further incidents in this analysis, such as Tony Chapron's missed penalty in AC Milan - Zenit, or Deniz Aytekin's many crucial calls in Málaga - RSC Anderlecht. Unfortunately, there were no suitable videos.
2) Celtic Glasgow - Spartak Moskva, refereed by Felix Brych (GER)
German Elite official Felix Brych had been appointed to take charge of this crucial Group G match. With regard to the draw achieved by Benfica at Camp Nou, Celtic really had to win to qualify for the K.O. stage.
In the 81st minute of play, Greek striker Samaras fell at the edge of the penalty area. Brych immediately pointed to the spot and even if the penalty seems to be provoked and a too harsh decision, there are some replays that clearly show the clumsy contact induced by the Russian defender, so that the penalty was a correct decision [1:18].
Later on, Brych furthermore dismissed Källström for a repeated foul. Regarding the replays and recognizing the fact that the studs were obviously up, a straight red card could have even been possible, but the 2nd yellow card is absolutely acceptable as well [1:35].
3) Chelsea - Nordsjaelland, refereed by Bas Nijhuis (NED)
At Stamford Bridge, a new record has gone into the books of UEFA Champions League's history. It was the first time that a referee has awarded three penalties in one half. In addition, there is surely no other match where three handball penalties had been issued within only seven minutes.
The first penalty to Nordsjaelland is a crucial mistake: The handball itself was well detected, although one probably cannot call it a totally deliberate handball, there are a lot of criteria fulfilled to call this a handball to be penalized. The problem however was: the handball occurred a few centimetres outside the box. Nijhuis himself probably could not see it, his assistant referee Angelo Boonman should have seen it though [0:05].
Only a few moments later, Nijhuis awarded the next penalty, this time to Chelsea and this time, it was a clear and correct call [0:56]; the only controversy could be whether the striker who headed the ball previously fouled his opponent, but my answer is no. Richard Liesveld, Nijhuis' additional assistant, surely helped him in this situation.
The last penalty Nijhuis whistled was again awarded to Chelsea. Nordsjaelland's defender got the ball at his left hand, which was not very close to the body, but not far from it either. The distance was small, there was only a minimum enlargement of his body volume, the hand did not go to the ball. A hard, to my mind, too hard decision [1:52]. This time, Nijhuis took the decision himself.
4) Shakhtar Donetsk - Juventus Turin, refereed by Jonas Eriksson (SWE)
The perpetual issue related to the question of whether a handball should be considered as deliberate or undeliberate was also of relevance at Donetsk's Donbass Arena.
In the early stages of play, Juventus claimed for a penalty after a Shakhtar defender got the ball on his hand [unfortunately not captured by the video]. Surely, the header would have been a dangerous goal attempt. In addition, the body volume was significantly enlarged; nonetheless, this handball should at least not be regarded as completely deliberate or intentional. It was more or less inevitable, but if the Swedish officials had awarded a penalty, the Ukrainian side could not have protested that much. No clear and undoubtful crucial mistake from my point of view.
However, a crucial mistake happened later on when AR2 Daniel Wärnmark did not recognize the tight offside (due to contrary movements), but nonetheless pretty clear offside position of an Italian forward [1:16]. It led to the decisive goal of the match.
I would have liked to include some further incidents in this analysis, such as Tony Chapron's missed penalty in AC Milan - Zenit, or Deniz Aytekin's many crucial calls in Málaga - RSC Anderlecht. Unfortunately, there were no suitable videos.
