Tuchel is furious about the referee's bizarre explanation after a penalty moment at Arsenal

Arsenal and Bayern Munich (2-2) kept each other in balance on Tuesday evening during an entertaining first leg in the quarter-finals of the Champions League. The Gunners felt decided after being denied a penalty deep into stoppage time after Bukayo Saka collided with goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, but Thomas Tuchel also felt Bayern had been denied a penalty earlier in the game.

After the match, there was mainly talk about the fact that referee Glenn Nyberg decided not to award a penalty to Arsenal in the end. Instead, the Swedish referee blew the whistle.

However, images soon emerged on social media of a moment in the 67th minute, when Bayern took the lead 2-1. Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya can be seen passing the ball to his defender Gabriel Magalhães after Nyberg blew the whistle to restart play.

After receiving the pass, the Brazilian defender suddenly chose to pick up the ball with both hands, thinking he should take the goal kick. Gabriel put the ball well and then played in Raya. Referee Glenn Nyberg did not intervene, to the anger of Tuchel. VAR Pol van Boekel also decided not to correct his Swedish colleague.

Tuchel's response

“I think a big mistake was made by not giving a penalty for handball,” the Bayern coach said afterwards. Sky Sports. “It's a crazy situation. After the whistle has blown and the ball has already been put down, the defender picks it up with his hand. What makes us very angry is the explanation we received in the field. He told our players that it was a childish mistake and that he is not going to give a penalty for that in a Champions League quarter-final.”

“It's terrible reasoning,” Tuchel continued. “It means he judges handballs, whether it's a childish mistake or an adult mistake. We are angry because it is an important decision that went against us.”

Despite the questionable decision by the Swedish referee, Tuchel is still confident that Bayern will be able to decide the quarter-final in his favor during the return at home. “It's 2-2, completely even and we still have a return to play. Hopefully we can play with the same passion and intensity as today and create the same atmosphere in our stadium.”

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