At this point it could be about the evaluation of an entertaining soccer game. One could analyze that the spectacular 3-2 victory of FC Bayern at Borussia Dortmund was a kind of encounter that footballers like to call “wild”: a lot of courage to attack and not the very best protection on the defensive, big ones individual class and individual faults, everything on both sides. So you don’t have to burst into cheers, German football has now advertised its sustainable suitability for a spectacle in all relevant markets around the world. One could draw the conclusion, however, that the German record champions seem surprisingly beatable, which a few weeks ago did not necessarily look like.
That’s not it yet, so the appropriate prognosis would then be: Perhaps there will be something again this season that no child in Germany knows, namely a fight for the championship that was at least halfway exciting in the spring, despite four points Head start for the champions of the past nine seasons. But if that’s it, and FC Bayern wins the championship for the tenth time in a row next summer, you will perhaps remember more than the spectacle of two rule interpretations that contributed to the result on Saturday evening.
Referee Felix Zwayer explained afterwards quite plausibly and probably properly why he did not give a penalty and did not look at the scene in which Dortmund’s Marco Reus fell forward after a kick from Bayern’s Lucas Hernández on the screen at the side. And he also explained why he looked again at Mats Hummels’ handball, which led to the decisive goal by Robert Lewandowski, and then decided on a penalty.
Case one: According to his own statement, Zwayer perceived the scene clearly and did not want to punish it in the course of his generous game management. The video assistant hadn’t pointed out anything he hadn’t seen himself. Case two: He only perceived the handball, but not its criminal liability, so he wanted to look again – and saw an unnatural hand movement in the repetition.
Polemical and intelligent assessments of Zwayer’s decision
Everyone who was asked to say something about the game in front of a microphone then spoke about the decisions. There were more polemical comments like those of Dortmund’s Jude Bellingham, who noted that Zwayer had already postponed a game – a reference to the referee’s involvement in the Robert Hoyzer manipulation scandal in 2004. There were also clever classifications, two of which are exemplary would be: Alex Feuerherdt, Sky expert for referee decisions, said that it would have been better to Zwayer’s line not to whistle a penalty. And Thomas Müller said that there are clearer criteria for a handball (through various specifications of a rule that is still difficult to understand, the Red’s note) than for a mild push. That was also true.
If there is a recommendation for action that could follow from the evening, it would be that the use of the video assistant still has to be optimized years after its introduction. One possibility: consistently intervene less to prevent petty decision-making. Another, more obvious possibility: That the referee still watches a controversial penalty area scene on the field, which could potentially mean a penalty. Loosely based on the little striker and great rhetorician Ailton: “Have a look!”
But, see above: Maybe FC Bayern will stay beatable for a few more weeks, maybe the irreplaceable striker Erling Haaland, who is irreplaceable for Dortmund’s competitiveness, will stay healthy. And possibly the more sustainable meaning of the game on Saturday is a sporting one after all.