Bayer Leverkusen’s Xhaka: “Coming back twice deserves respect” – discussion about penalties

Top duel heats up tempers

Thomas Tuchel did not want to philosophize on Saturday night about the question of whether Bayer Leverkusen could become a serious competitor for FC Bayern in the fight for the German championship. “I don’t have a clever answer to that. It’s a marathon,” said the coach of the German record champions, who missed out on reaching the top of the table occupied by the “Werkself” due to the 2-2 draw in the top game. In the end, everyone gets what they deserve, said Tuchel.

After the early lead from record purchaser Harry Kane (7th minute), the guests came back into the game impressively with a dream free kick from Alejandro Grimaldo (24th). Leon Goretzka (86th) made the Bayern fans celebrate again, but Argentina’s world champion Exequiel Palacios (90th + 4) secured the point for Bayer 04 with a penalty awarded according to video evidence in a thrilling final phase. Unlike so often, the guests did not sneak off the pitch as losers in the “Allianz Arena” in “Vizekusen” style, but rather struck back impressively twice.

“Coming back here twice deserves respect,” said midfielder Granit Xhaka. “It’s still very early to talk so big, but we really played a good game.” Coach Xabi Alonso praised his team’s mentality. “It wasn’t easy to come back after the second goal,” said the Basque, who played for FC Bayern from 2014 to 2017. Bayer has matured further under him and remains undefeated this season. “We have to keep going, it’s a process.”

After the Munich team only secured the title ahead of Borussia Dortmund on the last match day of the previous season, the start of the new season gives football fans in Germany hope again for a thrill in the championship fight. “The season is just beginning, we are looking forward to an exciting one,” said Bayern newcomer Konrad Laimer. The rousing 2:2 in the arena, which was sold out with 75,000 spectators, was definitely advertising for the Bundesliga. “Both teams fulfilled their expectations of a top game,” said New Leverkusen player Jonas Hofmann.

Discussions about the use of VAR and late penalties

Hofmann was particularly the focus of the very late penalty, which was met with criticism and incomprehension on the Munich side. Tuchel described the penalty, which was only awarded after video evidence after a duel between Bayern defender Alphonso Davies and Hofmann, as “super soft”. Bayern captain Thomas Müller called Davies’ deployment “a bit impetuous” after the end of the game. However, the 34-year-old described the fall of his national team colleague Hofmann as “cleverly done” after what was at most light contact. He wishes that “in football such situations are not penalties”.

Bayern’s new sports director Christoph Freund spoke of “a controversial scene”, but above all questioned the intervention of the video assistant: “The clear rule is that the video referee only intervenes when it is crystal clear.” Meanwhile, Hofmann contradicted Müller: ” Clear penalty. Point! There’s no need to make a big deal out of it.” He was clearly hit in the foot. Referee Daniel Schlager told the streaming service “DAZN” that he “did not notice” the action on the field. When he looked at the pictures, it became clear to him relatively quickly that the VAR colleague’s description matched the pictures.

There was also a need for discussion in the community. User “Mc_PW” said about the penalty scene: “The wording that you CAN give it is exactly the right one. But what you CAN’T do is use VAR to revise a penalty that wasn’t actually given in this scene, because it’s not a clear wrong decision. The VAR has to let a scene in the gray area go through.” “levgehenweiter” meanwhile thinks: “There was nothing clever about it, it was incredibly stupid of Davies, who tried to slide the ball away through his legs in the 16th. Since such stupidity doesn’t happen 300 times a season, these penalties don’t happen that often either.”

To home page