2023/24 Champions League quarter-finals, semi-finals and final

[Tazmania]

Absolutely.

From what I have seen of both clubs this season, the final is reasonably balanced and I expect a competitive game.

As a footnote, Real Madrid have never been crowned European champions in England.

[Sagy]

Before anyone cries about the ref take in mind that:
1 Real got a goal disallowed rightfully so
2 Neuer got Real back into the game
3 its not clear that there was no offside
4 Real stopped playing Lunin didnt even dive for crying out loud
Of course there will always be crying when Real wins mainly from barka fans who share a total of one brain cell between them but for anyone else there should be no excuse.
I see @Sagy comment above. I dont think the linesman should carry much fault. To my knowledge they are instructed to mark offside if they are absolutely sure and Davies was marked a few minutes before for offside immediately and it was correct. The CR though had no excuse he should not have blown thats for sure but then Real’s players would not stop especially Lunin so yeah it is what it is.

You are 100% right about the instructions. My reason for faulting the AR is that one of the following must be true:
1) he was sure there was an offside. In this case, I have an issue with his judgment.
2) he thought it was an offside. In this case, he didn’t follow the instructions to delay the offside flag.

Either one is a huge error.

[BurningStorm]

Before anyone cries about the ref take in mind that:
1 Real got a goal disallowed rightfully so
2 Neuer got Real back into the game
3 its not clear that there was no offside
4 Real stopped playing Lunin didnt even dive for crying out loud
Of course there will always be crying when Real wins mainly from barka fans who share a total of one brain cell between them but for anyone else there should be no excuse.
I see @Sagy comment above. I dont think the linesman should carry much fault. To my knowledge they are instructed to mark offside if they are absolutely sure and Davies was marked a few minutes before for offside immediately and it was correct. The CR though had no excuse he should not have blown thats for sure but then Real’s players would not stop especially Lunin so yeah it is what it is.

3) not 100% because UEFA doesn't show the VAR line, but the beIN graphics looks right
4) Really? https://twitter.com/mjodp2/status/1788333705481580742
Lunin maybe, but this one would have been hard to save. Both sides can not know. Fact is that the ref/linesman destroyed this opportunity.

[Bulgarian]

Before anyone cries about the ref take in mind that:
1 Real got a goal disallowed rightfully so
2 Neuer got Real back into the game
3 its not clear that there was no offside
4 Real stopped playing Lunin didnt even dive for crying out loud
Of course there will always be crying when Real wins mainly from barka fans who share a total of one brain cell between them but for anyone else there should be no excuse.
I see @Sagy comment above. I dont think the linesman should carry much fault. To my knowledge they are instructed to mark offside if they are absolutely sure and Davies was marked a few minutes before for offside immediately and it was correct. The CR though had no excuse he should not have blown thats for sure but then Real’s players would not stop especially Lunin so yeah it is what it is.

3) not 100% because UEFA doesn't show the VAR line, but the beIN graphics looks right
4) Really? https://twitter.com/mjodp2/status/1788333705481580742
Lunin maybe, but this one would have been hard to save. Both sides can not know. Fact is that the ref/linesman destroyed this opportunity.

Lunin definitely stopped the others i admit didnt thats my mistake.

I saw the picture but its still not from a straight angle and seeing the line it crosses Rudiger around his wrist and it should be around his elbow to my knowledge? In other words the line should be back? Nonetheless its still an angled photo.

The annoying thing for me is that people will run with this shady situation trying to diminish the final result despite Real doing a great job getting two disallowed in the process one right and one wrong and try to push the stigma of the ref helping Real for 7468556 time. Even you said fuck Real initially. I guess i shouldve stayed in bed and enjoyed this one but i like discussing things.
If Real are second best and win its luck if they are better its the ref. You cant win with some people lol i dont mean you.

Ill agree and say it again the referee on the field should be held mainly accountable imo the funny part is he is considered the best currently.

[Polak]

Absolutely.

From what I have seen of both clubs this season, the final is reasonably balanced and I expect a competitive game.

As a footnote, Real Madrid have never been crowned European champions in England.

They also haven't lost a final since the competition officially became the CL.

I find it interesting that the match ending in the 102nd minute (when 9 were added on) is seen as such a scandal. I also wonder why some of the people who thought it was a scandal for Real Madrid not to get their 'goal' given after the match ended in Valencia, don't see this as a scandal when it is in Real Madrid's favour.

Not sure what to make of this one yet. Either way I don't think the head referee was the one to be blamed. If you think it was unfair to call an offside then if anything you should blame the linesman. He raised his flag and the referee reacted. It's essentially the linesman's call. If he thinks it's an obvious enough offside then he raises his flag straight away and the referee immediately reacts or as soon as he sees the flag. They work together. If he did not raise his flag the referee would not have called it. It did look offside to me but not clear enough for the linesman to flag it immediately. I actually thought the Real Madrid winner also looked offside but apparently it was not.

[bugylibicska]

Dortmund v Real Madrid 5.50 4.33 1.55

[Bulgarian]

@Polak close to two minutes were wasted in VAR and celebrations so i personally dont have a problem when the match ended. For the record it ended in 90+15. In Valencia the problem with the whistle was that it was during an attack not the time itself.

[berntie]

I dont assume it thats exactly why i wrote the sentence that you quote that way.

So you don't know and don't care? Not my attitude. We have a VAR to avoid such situations.

Well if i didnt care i wouldnt comment and could just chill in bed lol but i tend to care about such stuff.

Then I really have no idea what you are arguing for or against here. When you say you're not sure whether it is offside or not, then you'd be obliged to let them continue playing, if you were the ref. But it seems you say there's no problem with the situation...

The annoying thing for me is that people will run with this shady situation trying to diminish the final result despite Real doing a great job g

Yet another reason to not blow the whistle and let them continue. Then Real could haven proven they were able to clear the situation, but...

[Bulgarian]

So you don't know and don't care? Not my attitude. We have a VAR to avoid such situations.

Well if i didnt care i wouldnt comment and could just chill in bed lol but i tend to care about such stuff.

Then I really have no idea what you are arguing for or against here. When you say you're not sure whether it is offside or not, then you'd be obliged to let them continue playing, if you were the ref. But it seems you say there's no problem with the situation...

The annoying thing for me is that people will run with this shady situation trying to diminish the final result despite Real doing a great job g

Yet another reason to not blow the whistle and let them continue. Then Real could haven proven they were able to clear the situation, but...

Read whats read in the second quote again. Thats what i am arguing. Arguing isnt exactly the correct word but thats not important.

[Juliusz]

Second legs attendances

Real Madrid - Bayern 76,579
Paris SG - Dortmund 46,435

[Sagy]

Absolutely.

From what I have seen of both clubs this season, the final is reasonably balanced and I expect a competitive game.

As a footnote, Real Madrid have never been crowned European champions in England.

They also haven't lost a final since the competition officially became the CL.

I find it interesting that the match ending in the 102nd minute (when 9 were added on) is seen as such a scandal. I also wonder why some of the people who thought it was a scandal for Real Madrid not to get their 'goal' given after the match ended in Valencia, don't see this as a scandal when it is in Real Madrid's favour.

Not sure what to make of this one yet. Either way I don't think the head referee was the one to be blamed. If you think it was unfair to call an offside then if anything you should blame the linesman. He raised his flag and the referee reacted. It's essentially the linesman's call. If he thinks it's an obvious enough offside then he raises his flag straight away and the referee immediately reacts or as soon as he sees the flag. They work together. If he did not raise his flag the referee would not have called it. It did look offside to me but not clear enough for the linesman to flag it immediately. I actually thought the Real Madrid winner also looked offside but apparently it was not.

A few comments:

1) the game lasted into the 102nd min because time needed to be added for the delay after Real’s second goal which was scored after the 9 min added time was decided.
2) yes, the Real-Valencia end of game whistle when the ball is crossed is very similar to the offside whistle in this game. In both cases the CR should have used better judgment, game management, and common sense to wait with the whistle. In this cases absolutely nothing good can come from a quick whistle.
3) In my view (explained above) both the AR and the CR get full blame (individually and as a team) for this error. The CR, doesn’t have to accept the AR automatically, especially in the case of offside when instructions are to wait until the attacking phase is over.
4) Real’s second goal was not offside. While there were not two defenders between Joselu and the goal when the pass was made (probably the reason the AR raised the flag), this is not offside since Joselu was behind the ball when the pass was made (makes no difference if the ball went forward or backwards as a result of the pass).

[Polak]

@Polak close to two minutes were wasted in VAR and celebrations so i personally dont have a problem when the match ended. For the record it ended in 90+15. In Valencia the problem with the whistle was that it was during an attack not the time itself.

Indeed the match lasted longer. The chalked off goal came in the 103rd minute and I forgot that the referee didn't end the match right after the offside call.

As far as the Valencia game goes, I actually thought it was less controversial than this one. In that game Valencia cleared the ball, which fell back to Real Madrid again on the right side of the pitch, and the referee had every right to finish the match. The match ended before the cross even went in and the Valencia defenders clearly stopped playing. It's like if the referee was to permit a team to take a corner as their last attack of a game and the ball is headed back out towards the corner taker by a defender and the referee decides to end it, because the defender cleared the attack. You could argue that the attack wasn't over because the attacker could have crossed the ball in once more, but in this case the attack could go on for a very long time with the attacking team crossing the ball in and the defending team heading it back out to them over and over.

I think the Bayern one was more controversial because it absolutely does not look like a clear offside. They still have not officially shown if it was offside or not and they're not going to now because if it was not it's going to create more scandal. I know some media outlets have done their own line and said it was not offside but they don't have the official technology so I wouldn't totally trust that.

Either way it was not clear enough and the linesman should not have raised his flag. I just watched that bit of footage again and when the ball is played in and de Ligt is allegedly in the offside position the linesman does not raise his flag. The linesman then goes out of view of the camera but he must have only raised it once he saw de Ligt was moving to the ball to have a shot. This was a mistake and would also mean the head ref must have seen the flag immediately because the flag would have been raised like 1 second before the shot and goal. Tuchel and de Ligt both claimed that the linesman apologised so he obviously knows he made a mistake.

Obviously we don't know if this would changed anything. We don't know if it was offside or not. We don't know whether Lunin would have saved it. Even if it was a goal and the match had ET we don't know if Bayern would have gone through given that their took off basically their entire attacking potency.

4) Real’s second goal was not offside. While there were not two defenders between Joselu and the goal when the pass was made (probably the reason the AR raised the flag), this is not offside since Joselu was behind the ball when the pass was made (makes no difference if the ball went forward or backwards as a result of the pass).

Yep I never said it was offside. I just said it looked on in real time and even in replays without VAR footage.

[berntie]

The annoying thing for me is that people will run with this shady situation trying to diminish the final result despite Real doing a great job g

Yet another reason to not blow the whistle and let them continue. Then Real could haven proven they were able to clear the situation, but...

Read whats read in the second quote again. Thats what i am arguing. Arguing isnt exactly the correct word but thats not important.

Well, as I said: The decision to stop play was bad for every party involved. For the ref, for Real, for Bayern. Even worse, it could have easily been avoided. We have a VAR but poor judgement on the field renders that useless.

But as it seems, you only have a problem with the effects of the decision, but not the decision itself. I don't get it, but well... you don't have to understand everything.

[amenina]

Referee teams for 2024 UEFA club competition finals announced

https://www.uefa.com/news-media/news/02 ... announced/

2024 UEFA Champions League Final refereeing team

Referee: Slavko Vinčić (Slovenia)
Assistants: Tomaž Klančnik and Andraž Kovačič (Slovenia)
4th Official: François Letexier (France)
Reserve AR: Cyril Mugnier (France)
VAR: Nejc Kajtazović (Slovenia)
Assistant VAR: Rade Obrenović (Slovenia)
VAR Support: Massimiliano Irrati (Italy)

[MartinW]

@Polak close to two minutes were wasted in VAR and celebrations so i personally dont have a problem when the match ended. For the record it ended in 90+15. In Valencia the problem with the whistle was that it was during an attack not the time itself.

There is no rule saying that the referee can only blow the full-time whistle when neither of the teams is attacking. As I'm sure everybody knows, the only rule is that the referee can't blow for full-time after a penalty has been awarded.