Bayern Munich stars were furious with the decision not to award them a penalty for handball against PSG midfielder Joao Neves in their Champions League semi-final clash – but a little-known rule proves the referee got it right.
Harry Kane and his team-mates were adamant they should have been given a spot-kick when the ball struck Neves in the box 30 minutes into their tense second leg at the Allianz Arena, which ended in a 1-1 draw to send PSG through to the final.
Vitinha had attempted to clear the ball but instead hit it straight at Neves, whose arm was away from his body.
Bayern, trailing 5-4 from the first leg, protested but referee Joao Pedro Silva Pinheiro waved them away and VAR refused to intervene.
The officials were correct because of an exemption to the handball rule, which few seemed aware of before Wednesday’s game.
The laws of the game state it cannot be a handball offence if ‘hit on the hand/arm by the ball which has been played by a team-mate (unless the ball goes directly into the opponents’ goal or the player scores immediately afterwards, in which case a direct free-kick is awarded to the other team)’.
The ball struck Joao Neves’ arm in the penalty area in PSG’s clash with Bayern Munich
Bayern stars including Harry Kane were furious but an exemption to the handball rule proves the officials got the decision right
The ruling would be overridden by an act of deliberate handball – a claim that could not realistically be made against Neves.
Bayern were also angered by Nuno Mendes avoiding a second yellow card. The Portuguese defender had been booked after just eight minutes and later appeared to block a pass from Konrad Laimer with his hand, but escaped further punishment.
A frustrated Kompany took aim at the officials after the match. ‘We have to look at some of the phases that were decided by the officials across the two games,’ he told TNT Sports.
‘It is never an excuse for everything but it matters and if you look at both legs, probably too much went against us.’
The Bayern boss also hit out at the ‘ridiculous’ handball rule following a controversial decision that went against his team in the first leg and stressed the need for ‘common sense’.
PSG set up a meeting with Arsenal in the final in Budapest on May 30 after winning the tie 6-5 on aggregate.
Ousmane Dembele fired the French side into the lead on the night after just three minutes, leaving Bayern requiring two goals to force extra time.
Harry Kane moved his side to within one after a superb finish in stoppage time but it was too little, too late as Luis Enrique’s side ensured they will get the chance to defend their European crown in the Hungarian capital later this month.
