The important arbitral decisions in the Champions League match between Borussia Dortmund and Ajax keep people busy. In the first half, defender Mats Hummels was BVB sent off with a red card; Moments later, the German club were awarded a penalty after an alleged foul by Noussair Mazraoui on Jude Bellingham. Wesley Sneijder and Dirk Kuyt differ in the studio of RTL7 opinion about the incidents.
Hummels made a tackle on Antony in the thirtieth minute and, to his own surprise, was sent off with a red card. Although the foul in the replay turned out to be minor, referee Michael Oliver stood by his decision. Marco Rose immediately intervened at Dortmund by taking Thorgan Hazard off the field and bringing in a new defender with Marin Pongracic. Minutes later, Jude Bellingham was lightly tapped in the penalty area by Noussair Mazraoui. After viewing the images on the sidelines, Oliver gave the Germans a penalty, which was shot by Reus behind Remko Pasveer: 1-0.
RED BUMBLE! Borussia Dortmund must continue with ten players. Mats Hummels comes in hard and Michael Oliver (+ VAR) think yellow is not enough. #UCL #BVBAJA pic.twitter.com/XBGIAEYQSh
— VTBL ? (@vtbl) Nov 3, 2021
Sneijder does not think the penalty for Dortmund is justified, he says in the studio of RTL7. “He is lightly tapped. He actually wants to continue, but then thinks: oh, wait a minute, I’ve been tapped. Then he lies down. The referee is just right. It can’t be that the VAR is going to look at this?” Fellow analyst Dirk Kuyt disagrees, however. “Mazraoui should never put himself in that situation. It’s actually a bit silly to do. Those players hope so. I think it’s a penalty, because he is just tapped lightly.”
The two analysts also disagreed on Hummels’ red card. Sneijder thought the print was unfair; Kuyt thought it was a deserved red card. “It seems a lot, at first,” admits Sneijder. “Antony jumps as if he broke both his legs. But he is not hit at all. If you have both legs in the air, I get a red card. But his left leg is actually back on the ground and his right leg is completely off. It’s not red for me.”
Aiii, Ajax lagging behind??
The VAR intervenes and gives Dortmund a penalty that is used by Reus ??
Is this a make-up for the red card? ??#ZiggoSport #UCL #BVBAJA pic.twitter.com/jXDvJBSoaQ
— Ziggo Sport Football (@ZS_Voetbal) Nov 3, 2021
Marco van Basten late in the studio of Ziggo Sports shine his light on sending Hummels away. “I didn’t think it was a red card,” said the former striker. “He slides very exaggeratedly towards Antony, but in principle he does not hit him. At least, it is actually wrong. If you as a referee have to decide that in a second, it does indeed seem like a solid tackle, but such a VAR then does not intervene … I do not understand that. The intention is very different, because Hummels does not actually touch him. If necessary, a yellow card.”