I say that because of the stakes, the consequences, and the fact that (unlike in other situations, such as the ridiculous no-call on Kevin Durant's out-of-bounds "save" against the Rockets) the referee had several minutes to look at the video and make the call. http://digg.com/2019/man-u-psg-var-penalty-champions-league PSG outplayed and outscored Manchester United over the two legs. If Man U had scored the final goal on its own, even due to a PSG error, that would have been ridiculous but legal. But that isn't what happened here. This PK was awarded on a desperate, what-the-hell strike from well outside the penalty area, against a defender barely inside the area with his back turned. Anyone who watched this tie knows it was obscene for outside forces to intervene and award the deciding PK, on this play, to a team that was so thoroughly outclassed. Today UEFA announced that the decision was correct under its rules: https://inews.co.uk/sport/football/...sg-uefa-statement-var-explained-handball-law/ Hey, soccer officials: This is not a good way to persuade the rest of the world that your sport is worth watching. (Apologies for posting this separately from the Euro football thread. I want to make sure this travesty gets its due rebuke.)
Number one rule as a defender is to always keep your hands down. Should there be a judgement call by the red whether the shot had a chance to in like refs do on pass interference calls in NFL? Maybe. At the current moment they don't and it was a penalty under current rules
What exactly was incorrect about the call? Nowhere in the Laws of the Game does it mention the desperation level of the shot, if the defender does or doesn't have their back turned, nor does it mention how much you have to be in the penalty area. Any United fan would tell you that had the call not gone their way, they would've been fine. There's rarely calls that can easily go either way like that. it's usually more cut and dry. But the location of the defender, the intent of the shot, and whether it hit the defenders arm or not is not in question. Games at every level like this happen all the time. One team dominates the ball but doesn't finish. PSG had every opportunity to win and they blew it. Buffon chokes on the 2nd goal. They missed many opportunities to put them away and they didn't do it. They have no one to blame but themselves.