Ballack then lost his temper. On the one hand, Kane was almost certainly level with Nuno Mendes; on the other, the VAR could have intervened in what was potentially a match-deciding moment, had there been an offside.
"The referee blows his whistle before the assistant has even raised his flag—he simply isn't allowed to do that. That's a massive mistake. The referees should let that run. Why is he blowing the whistle? He's clean through on goal. It was tight; what happens next is another matter. But he simply mustn't blow the whistle," Ballack ranted. "That mustn't happen at this level!"
In the 29th minute, referee Pinheiro—only officiating his 15th Champions League match—was again under scrutiny: Nuno Mendes, already booked, halted a Bayern counter-attack with a clear handball. Instead of showing the Portuguese defender a second yellow card, Pinheiro controversially called an earlier handball by Laimer in the build-up. "The referee is once again interfering in this wonderful football match and changing the balance. Bayern were clearly disadvantaged here," said Sami Khedira on DAZN.