Whistle completely wrong twice
Stieler thanks the “lifesaver VAR” after the Bayern game
03/19/2023, 21:01
Bayern coach Julian Nagelsmann is upset after the defeat at Bayer Leverkusen – and still praises the video assistant, who makes both goals against his team possible. Referee Tobias Stieler makes two big mistakes and is very happy that VAR corrected him.
Tobias Stieler vacillated between shame, deepest gratitude and relief. “My soul is crying a bit,” said the referee after a true Bundesliga curiosity, “but the football world can be satisfied.” The football world – yes. Himself – not at all. The referee of SG Rosenhöhe Offenbach should work up much more in the coming days as to how these potentially game-changing misjudgments came about and how such failures can be avoided in the future.
The referee from Hamburg made two big mistakes in Sunday’s league game between Bayer Leverkusen and Bayern Munich. Twice he accused Leverkusen’s Amine Adli of swallowing in the Bayern penalty area, twice he imposed a yellow card full of conviction for this alleged attempt at deception. And: Twice he had to take it back sheepishly, ask for an apology and give Bayer a penalty. Exequiel Palacios converted twice, it was a surprising 2-1 (0-1) victory.
Stieler knew who to turn to after the final whistle: his colleague Sören Storks. “It was a prime example of the perfect collaboration with the video assistant,” he said at DAZN. “The VAR always gets a lot of criticism, but that was very good. He was sort of my lifesaver – and also the lifesaver for the game.” The summary: “Twice on the field next to it, twice many thanks to the Kölner Keller for the great support. In the end both teams were happy because the right decision was made.”
Julian Nagelsmann’s mood was by no means aptly described as “happy”, but that wasn’t due to the penalty decisions. After looking at the pictures, there was simply nothing to discuss. “I’m a friend of the VAR, it was correct, there were two penalties and therefore in the sense of fairness,” emphasized the Bayern coach. Thomas Müller also said on the DAZN microphone that the corrections would not offer any justification for the defeat – instead, he and his teammates would have to thoroughly question themselves and their performance.