Arsenal and Bayer Leverkusen drew 1-1 in the first leg of their Champions League round of 16 clash after the Premier League side were awarded a late penalty
Kai Havertz celebrates equalising for Arsenal against Bayer Leverkusen
Arsenal and Bayer Leverkusen are level after the first leg of their Champions League clash(Image: Marvin Ibo Guengoer - GES Sportfoto/Getty Images)
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Arsenal go into the second leg of their Champions League meeting with Bayer Leverkusen with the tie delicately poised after a 1-1 draw in Germany. One of Europe's most experienced referees has been appointed to take charge of the match but even he has found himself at the centre of controversy in the past.
Danny Makkelie has been chosen to officiate the game at the Emirates Stadium. He is one of two Dutch officials to take charge of round of 16 matches in the competition this season, after Serdar Gozubuyuk was in the middle for the first leg of Atletico Madrid vs Tottenham.
Makkelie, 43, has taken charge of 58 Champions League matches over the course of his career. Six of those came earlier this season, while he has taken charge of two Arsenal games in the competition before - most recently a quarter-final defeat away at Bayern Munich in 2024.
Back in 2018, however, he incurred the wrath of English fans after disallowing a late goal in their UEFA Nations League defeat to Spain. Coincidentally, it was an Arsenal player who was denied, with Danny Welbeck seeing an equaliser chalked off for a foul on Spanish goalkeeper David de Gea.
"In those big moments you need a ref to stay strong and unfortunately he's bottled it," England captain Harry Kane told Sky Sports after the game. "Danny Welbeck's just stood there, the keeper's come to catch it and just fallen on top of him and he's put it away.
"So now the ref's given a foul. Those big moments, sometimes you need a firm ref who doesn't, under the pressure, give wrong decisions."
Suggesting England deserved a draw rather than their eventual 2-1 loss, he added: "Danny's just stood there, and De Gea's gone up and he's caught the ball but as he's come down he's fallen on top of Danny. He hasn't gone to foul him or anything, and the ball's dropped. Keepers sometimes get better treatment than the rest of us and that's unfortunate for us."
Harry Kane speaking to Danny Makkelie during a Nations League match in 2018
Harry Kane was unhappy with Makkelie after a Nations League match in 2018(Image: Charlotte Wilson/Offside/Getty Images)
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That wasn't the only time Makkelie was at the centre of a disallowed goal controversy. When he wrongly ruled out a Cristiano Ronaldo goal in 2021, though, he apologised for his error.
Ronaldo was playing for Portugal against Serbia in a World Cup qualifier when he thought he had scored a late winner. However, there was no goal-line technology in play and the referee wrongly believed the effort had been cleared off the line.
"As per FIFA's policies, all I can say is that I apologised to the national coach, Mr. Fernando Santos, and to the Portuguese team for what happened," Makkelie said.
"As a referee team, we always work hard to make good decisions. When we are in the news in this manner, it doesn't make us happy at all."
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