Men's Soccer (Football) Thread [ARCHIVED] Soccer • Page 133

Peak PSG for sure, biggest bottlers in CL history and I hope they never get anywhere near the trophy for a long, long time!

 

*Yeezy voice* I mean, United’s comeback was good, but Barcelona’s comeback was the greatest of all time.

Congrats and welcome to the club!

 

Are red cards in Europe 3 game suspensions, or is it a one and done? Would obviously be nice to have Pogba available for the quarters.

 

One and done. It was two yellows, no?

 

Haha yeah it was, I think tonight was funnier though. Barca was more dramatic and a much better performance.

 

I was at work, but I wish I could’ve watched it. It gets even funnier when the hero of Barcelona was bought by PSG and he’s missed the last two ties of the knockouts for them and they’ve lost.

I’ll never forget throwing my laptop when Roberto scored and diving to catch it.

 

Just watched the BT highlights in YouTube. Did someone switch Lukaku on and off again or something? Suddenly he's being a total nuisance for the opposition.

Also, don't think the penalty was that contentious. I don't think a ref gives that without VAR, because it's awkward to spot, but the guy turns his back and uses his arm to widen his body. He's even watching the ball as he turns.

Pretty dumb thing to do when the ball is going into orbit.

 

Was at the game last night. Can't believe they managed to bottle this. Kehrer should have been taken off much sooner, hell, Meunier should have started tbh. Impeccable defending by United, Mbappé was stifled pretty much all game except for that one chance, when he unfortunately slipped.

 

Lol, I know he was injured but it is very funny to me that Neymar was hanging out with Ninja in his private box as his team failed on the pitch once again. Reminds me of the time Drake missed the birth of his kid because he was playing Fortnite with Ninja instead

 

I don’t really think he uses his arm to widen his body, it looks awkward, especially in slow mo and since he’s turning backwards. In general, i have a bit of a problem with possible handballs being reviewed in slow-mo for VAR, as almost everything looks like one. Think it’s best viewed in real speed for that particular infringement

 

Meunier not starting was really poor from Tuchel, who i like a lot as a coach. could see it right from the off yet he waited 70 mins to correct it

 

My take would be that he's turned his back on the ball, his arm is slightly raised and so it's his own fault for playing a sloppy block. Whether he intentionally widens himself is unknown, but to perform that turn his has to get his arm out and that's what catches the ball.

If that were a cross or a long pass being blocked like that, I think you'd want a free kick for it, no?

Also, Tuchel's comments about it are really weird. He seems to be claiming that because the ball was going out of play, it's not a penalty. That's not how penalties work... It doesn't have to be a goal scoring opportunity for it to be a penalty.

 

There was a huge difference in attitude last night from PSG. Initially they seemed too cocky, like they had the game won already. But some time after their goal they started looking nervous and afraid. After we took Bailly off the whole atmosphere of both teams seemed to change dramatically. PSG just couldn't calm down, whereas we settled in.

 

That's the reason that most refs are citing when they say it was a penalty. Once the player turns their back, they're no longer know where the ball is and not in control. The fact he made no attempt to move his arm out of the way, and turning his back was why it was given as a penalty.

At least that's what I've read. Clattenburg and the in studio ex referee with BT said that too.

 

It's ridiculous reasoning though. The whole reason the rule exists is to stop players just sticking their hand out and blocking or controlling it. That we're now in a position where we're looking at slow-mo and judging whether or not he could do more to get his arm out of the way is proof that people have completely missed the spirit of the law. It's an insane decision, albeit a funny one because it's PSG.

 

Yeah I didn't think it was a penalty. Very harsh.

On the other hand, what in the blue blazes was Kimpembe doing turning his back in the last minute of a Champions League tie? That's amateur stuff.

 

Spurs v Porto in the quarters sounds good to me

 

Manchester United penalty controversy proves handball is VAR’s Achilles heel

This sums up my thoughts on handball/VAR very well, even before last nights decison

 

I wouldn’t say i would want a free kick for it and apart from that particular comment by Tuchel i thought his comments were pretty solid actually (obviously whether or not the shot or cross is on target has no bearing)

 

Wild that the two teams who won the first leg away were eliminated this week

 

But, by spinning around and letting his arm go, has he not done exactly this? If the United player had hit the ball on target and they hadn't called, surely people would be furious that he'd deflected a shot with his arm?

Also, the referees had made it known that they would be judging hand ball this way. If you don't make calls like this, then players will take advantage of it.

 

I know this has no bearing on the specific decision made in last night’s game, but I think it’s funny that Kimpembe allowed to play last night at all. Especially with Pogba in the stands.

 

Kimpembe is a very fun name to say out loud. It has good sonic qualities.

 

No. He turned away from the shot. Because his arm wasn't perfectly by his side (which it wouldn't be when you're turning round) doesn't mean there was any intent.

It needs to be clear intent. And the problem with VAR is it's giving referees a false sense of security whereby they feel they're able to split hairs because they have the video in front of them. But that's not what it should be. The spirit of the law is there to stop a player clearly blocking or controlling the ball with his arm. Judging whether a player's arm may or may not be a little out of control when he turns his back on a fast shot, all based on a slowed down angle, starts to make the context in which the rule is applied ridiculous. That's why the emphasis always used to be on referees making decisions like these only if they were absolutely sure. It's gone past that now.