Referee Controversy Leaves Bayern Munich Frustrated In Champions League Semifinals

For the second time in three seasons, Bayern Munich fell short in the Champions League semifinals with regrets about a referee’s decision in the second leg.

A free kick that should have led to a second yellow card for handball by Paris Saint-Germain defender Nuno Mendes was overturned after just 29 minutes when Bayern badly needed a way back into Wednesday’s game.

“That would have been a decisive moment if PSG had lost a player so early,” said Bayern’s Konrad Laimer, who instead was eventually judged — on the fourth official’s advice — to have handled the ball seconds earlier.

Two years ago, a potential goal in stoppage time by Bayern’s Matthijs de Ligt to force extra time at Real Madrid was ruled out by a quickly raised flag for a possible offside that was marginal at best.

In 2024, Bayern’s then-coach Thomas Tuchel called the on-field ruling a “disastrous decision” that “feels almost like a betrayal.”

It is now six years and counting — and two semifinals exits — since six-time European champion Bayern last played in the final.

An added frustration is the passage of play around the Nuno Mendes handball could not be reviewed by the VAR system — though a similar incident could be next season when the rules are updated.

Key moment

PSG took a deserved third-minute lead in Munich on Wednesday when Ousmane Dembélé finished a fast break driven by Khvicha Kvaratskhelia’s skills and speed.

That made it 6-4 on aggregate to PSG, and Bayern seeking a big change in momentum.

It seemed to come when Laimer surged forward and flicked the ball up to the side of Nuno Mendes, whose outstretched right arm made his body bigger and blocked the ball.

Referee João Pinheiro blew his whistle and signaled with his left arm a free kick to Bayern. Another yellow card for Nuno Mendes, already booked for tripping Michael Olise, seemed inevitable.

Before Pinheiro reached the spot to take the free kick, his right arm was out in the PSG direction of play. The Portuguese referee gave a thumbs up signal to his fourth official on the touchline, Espen Eskas from Norway.

Laimer was judged to have handled the ball several meters (yards) further back when he first controlled the bouncing ball. Television replays were inconclusive.

“You don’t feel it during the game itself. I thought I had played the ball with my stomach, and then Mendes with his hand,” Laimer said. “The referee whistled for handball against me five seconds later. That’s really strange.”

No VAR review

The VAR protocol today allows video review of “clear and obvious errors” in four game-changing situations: A goal, a penalty, direct red cards, mistaken identity when the wrong player is shown a red or yellow card.

Starting at the World Cup next month, VAR can intervene to overturn a red card if a second yellow was shown in error.

Nuno Mendes never was shown a second yellow on Wednesday. However, a similar situation next season will let the referee follow their first instinct and review the whole passage of play at a pitchside monitor.

“I though he was giving it,” Bayern coach Vincent Kompany said of Pinheiro moving toward a second yellow for Nuno Mendes. “I felt he pulled out because he realized he had already given him a yellow and he didn’t want to send him off for that, and he’s turned it around to the other side.

“I’ve seen it from a few angles. I don’t see Konrad Laimer touch the ball with his hand.”

Instead of playing one hour against PSG down one man, Bayern faced a full-strength opponent and did not score until Harry Kane’s goal at the very end of a 1-1 game that cut the overall score to 6-5.

Minutes after the Laimer decision, Bayern was correctly denied a penalty for handball by PSG’s João Neves because the ball was played to his arm by a teammate. That nuance is not specified in The Laws of the Game but it is in a supplementary document called Football Rules.

PSG will defend its Champions League title against Arsenal on May 30. Bayern’s wait goes on.