Bundesliga: Round 30 Review

Review of the fifth-last round of Bundesliga games, thanks to Philipp S. and our cooperation with the BuliSchiri blog.

Benjamin Cortus faced a controversial in-box situation in Bavaria

This week, we work in chronological order:

Markus Schmidt in SC Freiburg - Borussia Mönchengladbach [VAR: Martin Petersen]:

Overall: Solidly handled normal game with one controversial incident - referee issued a Second Yellow Card at 67' and sent off a technical official who shouted "you only talk shit". It was a correct call, but similar challenges by opposition players went un(der)punished.

Deniz Aytekin in RB Leipzig - SC Paderborn [VAR: Frank Willenborg]:

Overall: Good performance with a lenient style in an easy-going match.

Manuel Gräfe in Bayer Leverkusen - Bayern München [VAR: Martin Petersen]:

Overall: An inconsistent performance with regards to foul detection / selection and disciplinary control. Facing more dissents than he usually would for this reason, he still presented good soft skills and handled the game fine.

14' Serious Foul Play? Foul given, no sanction

-> Very brutal tackle that was only targeted in hurting the opponent and endangered his safety. Red Card should be given, VAR should intervene (Mikael: the problem is, as for the missed Red Card in the Club Brugge - Manchester United that we posted about, one can understand how the VAR teams did not assess this as clear and obvious in the respective paradigms - little player or potential media reaction; I'm reassured that UEFA saw sense in the end, even if DFB haven't here).

Felix Brych in Eintracht Frankfurt - FSV Mainz [VAR: Marco Fritz]:

Overall: Below expected level performance with an inconsistent line in disciplinary control. Correct interpretation of the LotG revision vis-à-vis deliberate passes to the goalkeeper at 33'.

70' Penalty (charging)?

->: Defender clearly impedes the attacker's chance to play the ball, so a penalty should be given. Though, if Brych saw the situation clearly, recommending an OFR would be tricky.

Sören Storks in Fortuna Düsseldorf - 1899 Hoffenheim [VAR: Christian Dingert]:

Overall: After the early sending off, the referee did not give the most self-assured impression. A lot of cautions were issued, some of which Philipp views as unnecessary.

8' Red Card (Violent Conduct) given

->: Düsseldorf player seems to push up his opponent's arm to strike his own face - in that case the call is clearly incorrect and VAR should intervene. Still, somewhat hard to call from the replays shown.

18' Goal disallowed for a foul (striking) after VAR intervention

->: Clearly correct to disallow the goal - Philipp also believes that this meets the DFB threshold for intervention, especially as the referee quite probably didn't even assess the incident in real time.


75' Penalty (tripping / charging) given

Philipp: In his view, the contact is too soft at both the feet and the chest and the better decision is to play on. VAR correctly supports the call as it is a grey area.

Mikael: Tricky situation - indeed, it is hard to see a decisive contact, but considering that the attacker has won the position and the fall seems to be more of a natural one, I actually quite like the penalty call; VAR correctly supported it.

Harm Osmers in Borussia Dortmund - Hertha BSC [VAR: Benjamin Brand]:

Overall: Good performance, referee's decisions were almost always easily predictable. A penalty appeal for handling at 84' generated some (understandable) media attention, but it was clearly correct to play on.

Bibiana Steinhaus in Werder Bremen - VfL Wolfsburg [VAR: Robert Schröder]:

Overall: Good card selection, but not the most technically accurate performance. No bigger controversial situations.

Tobias Stieler in Union Berlin - Schalke 04 [VAR: Günter Perl]:

Overall: Besides a missed card for SPA (25'), good performance; referee was always in control.

Benjamin Cortus in FC Augsburg - 1.FC Köln [VAR: Guido Winkmann]:

Overall: Lots of interesting incidents in this game, besides the most discussed one - possible Second Yellow Card (25'); potential SFP incident where no card was given (86'); possible foul before a crucial goal (88'). In Philipp's view none of these incidents constitute wrongly assessed Key Match Incidents. Besides, in a difficult match, the referee struggled to find an appropriate foul selection.

48' Penalty (tripping / holding / charging)? 

DFB released a statement regarding the situation, kindly translated by Philipp: "In the 49th minute of the game there was a much-discussed duel between the player Sarenren Bazee of Augsburg and the players Czichos and Jakobs of Cologne. The Augsburg player was harassed from both sides. Referee Benjamin Cortus had an unobstructed view of the incident, assessed both the contact in the upper body and leg area as not punishable and let the game continue accordingly. As with any penalty area scene that can result in a potential penalty kick, this situation was also checked by video assistant Guido Winkmann at the Video-Assist Center (VAC) in Cologne. The video assistant did not find any fundamental difference in the referee's description of the process in comparison with the images of the different camera angles available to him, but explicitly pointed out an existing contact in the foot area to the referee. The referee confirmed that he had noticed a slight contact in the leg area, but did not classify this as a punishable offence. This was the end of the check. Public opinions differ as to whether this was a clear and obvious mistake. This is understandable. On the one hand, the referee had a perception of the process, which he actually assessed for himself during the course of the game - and the intervention by the video assistant is ultimately not about finding a better decision, but about preventing a clearly and obviously wrong decision. On the other hand, if you look at the pictures in detail, the contact in the leg area is the cause of the fall of the Augsburg player. And that also suggests that the referee should have looked at the incident again. The technically correct decision in this case would have been a penalty kick. A difficult and complex situation."

Mikael: Ultimately, it's a clear penalty. VAR should intervene. DFB's approach overcomplicates clear situations, which confuses both match officials and general football followers. This is a good example, as is the penalty awarded in the DFB Pokal Semifinal from last season in the Werder Bremen - Bayern München game, which was confirmed after some confusion between referee and video match officials.

(Please keep comments on this page to Bundesliga Round 30 only, thanks :))