Champions League's biggest calls: Neymar's taunt, the Napoli vs. Rangers penalty circus, Guardiola's hug, more
CBSN
There were many huge moments involving refs this week in UCL, former referee Christina Unkel is here to break them down
This week we look at three controversial decisions by the referee teams, including one that continues to baffle pundits as to what is a handling offense. Let's take a look at those moments, and as an official referee I'll walk you through whether those calls were right, and what makes them so complicated. We'll take a look at the yellow card tackle on Ousmane Dembele, recap the wild happenings in Rangers vs. Napoli under the charge of the 2021 UEFA Champions League final referee and more. Also, we'll focus on why moments like Neymar taunting the fans are being eradicated from the game . It's for his own safety, even if he may not appreciate or understand it. And finally, at the end of a long day, we'll see that even referees can need a hug. It is a long cross into the penalty area that Tapsoba is prepared for. There is a flick-on by an Atletico player, but Tapbsoba can see it, and he is still 3-5 yards away. The flick-on is an expected football play in this situation. Tapsoba does attempt to play the ball by raising his left foot. At the point of contact on the hand/arm, Tapsoba's arm is backwards and not moving towards the ball but is away from his body. If the ball had not hit the hand/arm, the ball would have passed Tapsoba completely (no other fair body part of Tapsoba was behind his hand/arm) to Atletico's Mario Hermoso who was just behind him. Distance between the offense and the goal. General direction of the play. Likelihood of keeping or gaining control of the ball. Location and number of defenders.
Last week I broke down the six IFAB principles that guided a 2019-20 major rewrite of the law. So when we take a look at the handling that occurred in the 22nd minute by Leverkusen's Edmond Tapsoba against Atletico de Madrid, there is only one answer you can get to: it was a missed decision on the field and a missed VAR recommendation.