Image Credits: Imago Images
Aurelien Tchouameni and his perceived handball toward the end of the first-half was a major talking point in post-match discourse.
At the thirty-minute mark, with neither side having broken the deadlock, a Szoboszlai effort made contact with the arm of Real Madrid’s Tchouameni.
Referee Istvan Kovacs initially signaled for a stoppage and awarded a free kick marginally outside the penalty area.
However, the official proceeded to the pitch side monitor to determine whether the contact had occurred within the penalty box.
Following his VAR review, Kovacs concluded that no deliberate handball offense had taken place and subsequently restarted play with a dropped ball awarded to Real Madrid.
It was certainly a strange decision on the night at least, with many Reds fans perplexed at the rationale.
Now Dale Johnson, the BBC’s Football Issues Correspondent, has provided an explanation – writing:
“A factual decision, the position where the handball happened, would only be made by the VAR, not the referee.”
“A referee is only sent to the monitor to judge a subjective decision, in this case handball. So by going to the screen, the referee was overturning his decision to give the handball.”
“But how did we get from a free-kick to Liverpool to restarting with a dropped ball for goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois?”
“Because the handball factually took place inside the box, it’s a penalty. And a penalty is reviewable by the VAR.”
“If the handball had been confirmed as outside the area, the free-kick would have stood regardless of being right or wrong.”
“A foul given as a free-kick that is found to be inside the area doesn’t automatically mean the referee should check it at the monitor. The foul decision still has to be a clear and obvious error.”
Johnson adds that the penalty was overturned because the Frenchman’s arm was close to his body with no “horizontal barrier” being created:
“It’s maybe surprising that the penalty was overturned in a Uefa competition, but it was the correct outcome. Kovacs likely felt Tchouameni’s arm was further out, but when the ball hit the hand of the Real Madrid player he had it very close to the body, with no horizontal barrier being created.”
“Because it’s an overturned penalty, play restarts with the goalkeeper – effectively meaning Liverpool give up their attacking possession.”
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