Why Bayern Munich weren’t given penalty for Gabriel handball as Tuchel fumes at decision

The first leg of the Round of 16 Champions League tie between Arsenal and Bayern Munich was marked by a couple of contentious decisions.

The two teams played to a two-all draw, setting up an interesting prospect when they meet again in two weeks. Serge Gnabry and Harry Kane cancelled out Bukayo Saka's early opener, but Leandro Trossard came off the bench to equalise proceedings.

Despite the result, both teams felt they had been hard done by the referee's decision not to award 'clear' penalties. The biggest decision of the night came in the last minute when Manuel Neuer appeared to take out Saka inside the penalty area. Referee Glenn Nyberg waved away the protests before ending the game a couple of seconds later.

Why Bayern thought they deserved a penalty vs Arsenal

The other incident largely went unnoticed during the game but was picked up on after Bayern Munich head coach Thomas Tuchel went on a full rant during his post-match press conference.

In the 66th minute of the game, the referee blew the whistle for David Raya to start the game with a goal-kick. The goalkeeper hit the ball towards Gabriel Magalhaes, who bent over and touched it with his hand.

The visiting team, led by Kane, questioned the referee why Gabriel touched the ball with his hand, yet the whistle had already gone, which meant that after Raya kicked the ball to his defender, the ball was already in play. Law 12 of IFAB dictates that a deliberate handball inside the area will be a penalty.

According to Tuchel, the referee admitted it was a handball but waved away the appeals as a 'kid's mistake.'

Referee's expert explains why it wasn't a penalty

Football Laws Analyst Christian Unkel has sided with the referee, asking everyone who wanted that to be given as a penalty to use 'common sense.'

While appearing on CBS Sports Golazo, Unkel argued that the referee was right not to give the penalty as no advantage was taken away from the Bavarians, adding that 'context is important.'

"If you are arguing for this to be a penalty, with all due respect, you hate football! It was an honest and legitimate mistake."

While Unkel seemed convinced of her thought process and the legitimacy of the referee's decision to allow Arsenal to get away with the mistake, it is important to note that the Laws of the Game purposefully punish such mistakes.

Handling the ball, tripping an opponent, and other offences, whether accidental or not, are always penalties or free kicks, as prescribed in IFAB sections 12 and 13.

"This is a horrible, horrible explanation because that means he is now judging handballs, whether it's a kid's or adult's mistake," went on Tuchel.