Article by Adrian Duţă – Published on Thursday, 07 May 2026, 01:40 / Updated on Thursday, 07 May 2026 01:44
The second leg between Bayern Munich – PSG 1-1, in the semi-finals of the Champions League, it was marked by a refereeing scandal. Two former major European “centrals” contradicted each other at one of the controversial stages.
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PSG qualified in the last act with 6-5 overall, thanks to a 5-4 victory in the round.
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Arsenal – PSGthe Champions League final, takes place on May 30, in Budapest.
In the 31st minute, Bayern called for a penalty, after Vitinha cleared the ball into the hands of Joao Neves in the PSG box. The referee ruled that Neves had no intention of touching the ball and let play continue, and the VAR proved him right.
Former Bundesliga referee Manuel Grafe believes Joao Pinheiro was wrong. Iturralde Gonzalez, former referee in La Liga, gave the right to the Portuguese who officiated Bayern – PSG.
Two former FIFA referees contradicted each other during the controversial Bayern-PSG phase
“There's no catch here, because it's a release from the teammate. The only reason it would have been fouled would have been if the player had reached for the ball“, he declared Iturralde Gonzalezquoted by as.com.
Instead, the German Manuel Grafe believes that Joao Neves put his hand to the ball.
“Clear penalty for the handball! Much clearer than the situation in the round match. He raises his arm above his shoulder and his arm is in the path of the ball. It is completely incomprehensible why the VAR does not intervene,” said Manuel Grafquoted by Bild.
291 partiesrefereed Iturralde Gonzalez in La Liga
289 matchesGrafe refereed in the Bundesliga
I had a totally different opinion on that penalty. And a week ago the same thing happened. And it was red at Mendes. The refs think Laimer touched the ball with his hand, but I couldn't find any footage to show that.
In the end, we are talking about two very good teams. If you saw a much better team today, we see football differently. These refereeing decisions changed the fate of the match.
– Vincent Kompany, Bayern coach
