Germany legend Michael Ballack reckons Celtic should have had a penalty against Bayern Munich at Celtic Park last night…
The Bavarian outfit ran out 2-1 winners on the night in what was the first-leg of our UEFA Champions League knockout round play-off.
Celtic scored in the first minute thanks to a sublime Nicolas Kühn effort which evaded Manual Neuer, but the Spanish officials had adjudged the Bayern goalkeeper’s view to be impeded by the bulky frame of Adam Idah, who ran across Dayo Upamecano and subsequently blinded Neuer in the process.
It was bitterly disappointing as it was the type of moment that would have sent the place rocking and given a real confidence and belief to the players and the supporters in the stands. That wasn’t the only near miss we had on the evening though, as in the second period of he match Frenchman Upamecano trod on Belgian midfielder Arne Engels, who felt should have been awarded a penalty.
VAR intervened and sent the referee to the monitor for a review, however, Jesus Gil Manzano decided against a spot kick for the home side. Now former Bayern Munich and Chelsea star, Michael Ballack, reckons the Hoops should have been awarded one agasint his old team. Whilst working for TV covering the game, he said: “He clearly stepped on his ankle, so that’s actually a foul,” via Scottish Sun. “If that was in midfield it would certainly be a free kick.
“There are borderline decisions where you ask if it was a clear defensive action or was he preventing the opponent from getting to the ball. And that was clearly the case here for me, because he wanted to get to the ball and with this foul the defender clearly prevented him from reaching the ball.
This is a fouls every day of the week and therefore a penalty. So many saying “he won the ball first” are assuming you can’t foul someone after you win the ball. Engels could have chased and competed for the ball after this but was prevented from doing so by the foul. pic.twitter.com/sSi9Kt7O8z
— David 🍀 (@thedavidcurrie) February 13, 2025
“It doesn’t matter whether it was intentional or not. It’s a foul and only the assessment of the kick on his ankle is what should count. The referee decided that Upamecano played the ball beforehand. But for me, it’s still a foul. Bayern were certainly a bit lucky in the situation. But you need that sometimes.”
Arne Engels thought the referee was going to award a penalty to Celtic amid second-half VAR drama in their defeat to Bayern Munich. https://t.co/uL6LAHRLXs pic.twitter.com/VTrOq9BoU9
— STV Sport (@STVSport) February 13, 2025
Paul Gillespie
I think we would all agree that in the reverse situation, its 100% guaranteed that the same ref, with the same VAR review, would awarded a penalty to Bayern.
Not bitter 🤣