Former Real Madrid midfielder Steve McManaman has blasted the referee’s decision to give Real Madrid two penalty kicks in Celtic’s Champions League defeat at the Santiago Bernabeu. Celtic were pegged back by two early spot kicks as Stepanie Frappart adjudged Moritz Jenz and Matt O’Riley to have handled the ball in the box.
The pundit told BT Sport that the decisions were ‘terrible’ and that they ‘spoil the game’ as he and Stuart Armstrong analysed the game.
“I personally think the two Real Madrid penalties are awful. Rubbish. They spoil the game.
“I just think they’re terrible decisions.
“The ball does strike the arm on both of them, but if Valverde strikes it properly, it misses the defender.
“Celtic have been unlucky. Yes, it hits his arm and it’s in the penalty area.”
The Real Madrid skipper Luca Modric stepped up after Valverde’s fluffed shot hit the arm of Moritz Jenz, who knew very little about it. Frappart pointed to the spot and VAR checked it but the officials in the VAR room decided that the position was unnatural. Modric stepped up and cooly slotted the penalty into the net after sending Joe Hart the wrong way. It was a harsh decision, especially given that the defender had gone to block the initial shot and not attempted a heroic dive to stop the strike.
Rodrygo made it 2-0 to Real Madrid. VAR interfered after O’Riley blocked a blistering strike from Vinicius Jnr, the game played on before the Italian officials in the VAR room instructed Frappart to check the monitor by the side of the pitch. The French referee inspected and could see the ball connecting with O’Riley’s arm and accordingly pointed to the spot. Given the speed of the incident, it is incredibly harsh that O’Riley was penalized. To compound matters, O’Riley received a yellow card for his troubles.
Celtic were obviously going to be up against it but they were unlucky to lose these two penalties. Frappart is relatively inexperienced at this level and likely was influenced by the huge home support to give way to the European Champions.