Crucial situations in BVB - Real

Björn Kuipers and company have flown the flag for the Netherlands in this UEFA Champions League season having performed very well in each of their match. Also last night, their decisions contributed to a nice piece of football in Dortmund's Westfalenstadion and should be therefore acknowledged in the following.

Scene 1: Missed penalty to Dortmund? No! (42nd minute)

Dortmund's aspiring forward Reus strived for the goal and felt a contact with Real's youngster Varane. As you can see in the second screenshot, the incident occurred at the edge of the box, but slightly inside. Thus, Kuipers had three options: awarding a penalty kick, cautioning Reus for simulation or doing nothing - the last thing was what he did, and the Dutchman was fully right. As the second screenshot unveils, it was Reus who undeliberately provoked the contact by slightly touching Varane's leg. The defender's behaviour was passive and fair. Kuipers adjusted his positioning and took a good and important call.

Scene 2: Was Dortmund's 2:1 goal offside? (50th minute)

Obviously, Lewandowski (the yellow striker closest to the goalline) was level with the last defender, as parts with whom you may not score a goal (i.e. hand and arm) are not to be considered when referring to offside. Brilliantly seen by Erwin Zeinstra (AR2), also when you keep in mind that only 0,5 seconds later, Lewandowski was in offside for approximately half a metre.

Scene 3: Penalty given to Dortmund (67th minute)

So easy and soft this penalty might have looked, so correct it was. Xabi Alonso knocked down Marco Reus from behind without any chance to get the ball. It was a too clumsy tackle, which is also emphasized by the Real player's slightly carted out arm. Kuipers took this decision very swiftly, probably on his own, although AR2 and AAR2 surely had nothing to contradict here.

Scene 4: Reus' offside position appearing free in front of the goal (77th minute)

Very tough decision to take for Zeinstra. One can only suspect that Reus' upper body was slightly offside, although the replay is not the best, since it was stopped a bit too late by the directors.

All in all, a very good performance by the whole Dutch team, which is relieving considering the past weeks and months. The officials involved were Björn Kuipers, Sander van Roekel, Erwin Zeinstra, Pol van Boekel, Richard Liesveld and Berry Simons.
Their performance will be dealt with in a more detailed way in our referee observer's report soon.