About three burned too much, a red card too little. Difficult match of Marciniak (sport.tvp.pl)

When in the 45th minute of the match, Mane found himself in the penalty area and Angel Di Maria, who ran behind him, began to slide, Paweł Raczkowski was not at the height of the situation . He was where he should be in accordance with the rules of cooperation in a team of six judges. He moved on the goal line, behind the post on the other side of the goal, that is, slightly diagonally from the penalty area. It turns out however that he has a good angle of view to assess this situation – better than other judges. And he had a much better angle than Szymon Marciniak. In judging, the appropriate angle of observation of the event is usually more important than the distance of the referee to the action. Unfortunately, the judge can not always choose the best to follow the action because the situation sometimes changes too quickly.

A Płock referee moved after the action in accordance with the judges' art, along the so-called Diagonal Line *, but he was put unfortunate enough to evaluate Di Maria de Mane's fight. Judge Marciniak could not see the Argentine's contact with the rival's leg or legs, nor a possible contact with the ball. The location of the incident at the crucial moment obstructed the referee with the body of the PSG player himself and another of his teammates.

"He started falling too early"

The Liverpool striker, waiting for a Di Maria attack behind him, began to fall before the Argentinean touched him. This is an indisputable fact. Mane was probably planning to try to impose a penalty by simulating. However, this is just a popular assumption. Forcing "eleven" can not be stated in an objective and unambiguous way, even on the basis of a television image from different cameras. It is good to know and to recall that the "deep conviction", even that "which borders on certainty" – which sometimes counts many viewers – is not the same as the "absolute certainty" that a judge must have to decide to punish the player.

Critics of the decision to impose a penalty that Mane simulated. They argue: "he started falling too soon", "he was looking for a criminal", "he fell softly, he was a padolino", "he let himself go." Of course, the Senegalese added "something of itself", but in this case, it is not enough to accuse him of simulating and extorting a penalty shot. If the Senegalese are obviously simulated before a foul is committed, the referee should, of course, dictate an indirect free kick for attempting to deceive and extort the penalty, and the simulator punish by a recall, that is, to say a yellow card. Only that neither Marciniak nor Raczkowski found an obvious simulation before the fault. Not surprising, since there are not enough reasons to punish the player who deliberately pretends to pretend, even though many of us who observe the repetition of this situation have similar assumptions about his intentions.

If it's not simulation, then what?

Anyone with a minimal idea of ​​the "rules of the game" and refereeing or playing football and having experience in similar situations should know that in this situation it is impossible to speak about obvious simulation, or can -be only with the intention of simulating or – at most – to try to simulate. It should be emphasized here, based on facts and not on assumptions or beliefs, that in this situation, the attacker did not return next to the defender without any physical contact with him. 39; opponent. It also did not fall without any connection to the defender's intervention. This was not supposedly pure simulation. So why did he fall so fast?

Mane could start falling prematurely for at least two reasons. Obviously both because he may have really wanted or even tried to force a penalty, and maybe he was afraid he would be attacked by an opponent and he preferred to fear for his own safety before, because he had the right to assume imminent fault. He may want to minimize the risk of injury. Anyone who plays football knows that sometimes players "run away with their feet", that someone will not break them during the fight for the ball or cause another injury. Players know very well that when impacted or kicked in the air, the risk of injury is much lower than when faulting the so-called. a right leg.

Touch is not everything

In the same way that a fault is sometimes an attempt to kick an opponent who has specific consequences, even if he was not even able to touch him – he does not Nor is it a simulation of the failure of a player's contact if he only wanted to avoid a painful or dangerous attack. When an athlete expects to be touched from the back or side, for example to the Achilles tendon, ankle or knee, he has the right to dodge . It's natural and of course that should not be punished. The player can not be penalized for acting in accordance with common sense and defense instinct, especially if he had a clear reason to start falling. Such a variant of judges (and all judges' assessors) should also be taken into account. At this point, Mane may be absolved because Di Maria attacked him from behind and slightly to the side (between 4pm and 5pm).

If we recall the situation that preceded the goal of Poland in the last match of the League of Nations against Portugal, we note that the causal link between the fault of Arkadiusz Milik and his fall could have at least cast doubt on thing. And yet, the referee imposed a penalty because the post was fouled.

Regardless of speculation about Mane's conduct and his intentions, which will remain his secret, the undeniable fact is that Di Maria did not hit the ball in the ball, but hit the rival's leg, which then lost the opportunity to continue the action. This completely depletes the characteristics of foul play and means that the penalty shot was dictated correctly.

Given that Marciniak on the ground could not see it exactly and that he had apparently yet received no valid indication, he had to guess. That's why he dictated the corner first and pointed in the direction of the flag. When he heard the remark after a while, he turned to Raczkowski. Then he made a new decision, this time a good kick of repair. For cooperation in this situation, the two referees must be applauded.

Apparently, the assistant judge number 2, Tomasz Listkiewicz, also changed the decision of the corner, but the televised image does not follow it (the situation took place in the penalty area, in which the decisions should be taken by the Senior Judge, Assistant Judge Assistant and Assistant Number 1, or Paweł Sokolnicki).

Controversy with Neymar

Szymon Marciniak had a lot of work in situations where Neymar was fouled or allegedly fouled. The Brazilian has long been known for his exaggerated events that, at the World Cup, led to the creation of mocking movies about him. Neymar is a pretty tough player for referees, also called troublemaker, but the Polish umpire has very well advised him. He also tried to respond appropriately to fouls against PSG's key player. He showed the yellow card to Joe Gomez for catching Neymar on the left wing in the 34th minute and Andy Robertson in the 92nd minute. At the 35th minute, Marciniak only scolded for another foul on Neymar, but that was the right answer at that moment.

The most difficult situation for Nehemar however was the situation in the 81st minute, this time in the Liverpool penalty area. The Brazilian slowed the ball forward, wanting to double Virgil van Dijk. The Dutch kicked the ball well and a controversial event took place. A leg kick, at a speed, van Dijk played the ball and hit the leg of a Brazilian who broke sharply, this time at the height of the situation. If the Liverpool defender effectively hit the ball and Neymar would be out of reach, it would be easy to ignore the accidental and not too serious kick of the leg. The problem, however, is that the ball remained close and that in the absence of fault, Neymar could theoretically continue to play.

It should be noted that for many years the hit ball does not warrant the late kick of the opponent. In particular, it is important to know if the rupture of the ball has been effective enough to deprive the assailant of the possibility of playing. Here, it certainly has not been private. Just as judges need a lot of humility to not see everything, so are judges who judge judges. In my opinion, to impose the penalty shot in this situation was beyond the possibilities of the referee team – even the VAR could not help much, especially if the instructions for VAR judges in the Champions League were similar to those of the first part of the World Cup in Russia.

"Criminal in front of the TV"

I agree with Jacek Laskowski, who said on the show that it was not an attack of the ball as authorized as this one: "he took the ball with the legs of Neymar". Sebastian Mila, of the TVP studio, said that he would dictate a crime. I would also dictate, but just sit in front of the television. On the field, like all judges, I should remain uncertain, I guess "probably" or even "almost certainly" was a foul. But, again, getting through or even a "deep conviction" is not enough. In order to be able to impose a penalty, you must be sure of it and its judges, in my opinion, could not. The absence of kick repair is therefore an understandable and justified decision, although it is incorrect from the point of view of the "Rules of the Game". It can not be ruled out that without the story, the "interim" result of Neymar and his participation in this action, the judge would dictate a penalty. What thoughts did Szymon Marciniak think in his head, only he knows.

The Pole has had a lot of work in this match and considering this, I positively evaluate his performance. As far as profits are concerned, two of them – in the 80s and 84 minutes – have been effective and have allowed PSG to take quick and very dangerous actions.

In addition, the use of individual penalties was correct in most cases, although Marco Verratti's foul in the 24th minute allowed the player to show him the red card. The stained Italian's leg was raised, erected, the plugs were directed against Joe Gomez's leg, near his calf, near the shin. It was a "flying tackle". In the FIFA and UEFA training videos, such situations are described as "serious mistakes", which should mean a red card.

PSG actions interrupted

The assisting judges were less successful in this match with the flags, which unfairly interrupted three promising actions of the PSG. But they also made good decisions.

The # 1 assistant referee, Paweł Sokolnicki, did not recognize the goal of PSG in the 47th minute – Marquinhos was burned. However, in the third minute of extra time in the second half, he made a very serious mistake. Dani Alves, the PSG striker burned and outgoing, was two meters from the difference, but the flag was raised wrongly. Almost a mistake of two meters in the Champions League is a lot, especially since the situation was not very dynamic. It was not a difficult situation to "jingle" when players run fast in opposite directions and it is extremely difficult to assess the position of the attacker at the time of the pass.

An error in the match can happen to anyone, even the best. Ot, an accident at work. Unfortunately, Tomasz Listkiewicz, Judge Number 2, made two important mistakes. This was particularly painful in the seventh minute as PSG had a good chance of scoring. By the time the ball went to the penalty area, only Kylian Mbappe was present, but the ball went back to Thiago Silva. After his shot, Liverpool's goalkeeper bounced back and could end Silva or Mbappé, who was already allowed to take part in the action (for the moment, Silva was not in a position of off-duty). Thu). Mbappé himself could have scored the goal with 5.5 meters, or even closer to the goal and entrust to Edinson Cavani, also unregistered and who would have almost a goal in front of him. Unfortunately, in a situation where three strikers were in front of the lone Liverpool goalkeeper, the assistant referee raised the flag.

Objectively, it should be noted that at the time of the crossing, Cavani covered Listkiewicz in a place where the heel of Liverpool defender scored a burned line and just behind the defender, he ran perfectly to the rhythm of Silva. The referee with the flag could not see him, that is, he could not be sure he was burned. He should have doubts, and if the judge has any doubts, he should refrain from reporting and let the game continue.

For the second time, # 2 assistant referee made a mistake in the 27th minute, while Neymar was perfectly comfortable on the left wing. This time, Listkiewicz was not covered, but it was called contact situation. Such situations are all the more difficult to assess as the more the assistant referee is away from the burned line. The ideal "holding" of the burnt line is sometimes difficult, if not impossible, which, in this situation, has unfortunately convinced one of the best Polish specialists working with the flag.

Given the number of situations of yesterday's game and the different decisions of the judges, I know how difficult the task was yesterday. Emil Božinovski of Macedonia played the role of UEFA referee observer. However, I do not doubt that the report he will write after this match will allow Szymon Marciniak to qualify for the UEFA competition in the spring. In order to play the final of the Champions League this season, other referees are expected, but the final of the Europa League is still within the reach of the Polish referees team.

Rafal Rostkowski: former Chief Justice and assistant judge, judge among others in the Ekstraklasa in the years 1991-2017, UEFA 1997-2017, FIFA 2001-2017.

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* Diagonal line – the real name of the invisible line on the field connecting two diagonal corners. In diagonal judgments, it is almost always a line connecting these corners, where the assistants of the choragiewka do not move – that is why the main referee appears more often than not these angles that at the angles, under the constant observation of the judges of the assistants. By the way, I greet Mr Andrzej Strejlau, who knows more about the diagonal (especially applications).

Juergen Klopp: what an erotic voice!