Referee Sandro Schärer has come under fire for his refereeing performance during last night’s game between Bayer Leverkusen and AC Milan, and a video has highlighted some questionable calls.
There were a number of different incidents that have been put under the microscope but the one that stands out is the late penalty shout from what appeared to be a stamp on Ruben Loftus-Cheek, something the Italian media have all agreed was a penalty.
Below, an X user has put together a compilation of some of the decisions.
Disgraceful refereeing.
So many fouls not called + the 15 fouls that were called yet only 2 yellows for Leverkusen.
Refereeing at it’s lowest in a champions league game, shameful. pic.twitter.com/S24jo1xPGu
— gabe🇵🇹 (@itsgabe20) October 2, 2024
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Generally I don’t like giving the ref the stick.
All the more so when we play UCL against the German and English sides. Italian teams act out the smallest contact and there are clearly instructions for refs to ignore all the yelling, moaning and general rolling about.
This game between two excellent sides however it was clear the ref was not up to the speed and intensity of the game. Guessing he needs more seasoning in Europa and Conference.
So an over-application of not being drawn in to Italian drama could be let go, but I simply cannot figure out how VAR does not intervene at least once. Are there different instructions on the bar for intervention this year?
The foul on Tammy in the box was clear and obvious.
First of all, what “Italian” drama? The only Italian player we had was Gabbia and he wasn’t dramatic at all. This is blatant prejudice. The ref was awful and in great part, we lost the game because of him. He should have expelled a Leverkusen player, should have called 2 clear PKs for us, and should have sanctioned Leverkusen way more for fouls that kept interrupting our flow and not getting called.
I watched the games and it wasn’t clear in every case that Milan deserved a penalty. I think Milan played a bad game. They didn’t do well in preventing Bayern from attacking and Milan only looked good when Bayern sat back.
I think the game against Liverpool when Morata was fouled in the box was more of a clear penalty than these cases.
The officiating was terrible. The standouts were the poke on Theo’s face, which deserved at least a yellow card, the ones against Leao and Chukwueze, and, the tackle from behind against Loftus-Cheek. Disappointingly, VAR did not look at the latter, as though the officials inside the room were all Germans. So,so disappointing. That ref needs to get another job. It’s painful when refs, and other officials, influence the outcome of games.
Switzerland…. one of the most corrupt countries on earth and with some of the worst referees by the looks of things.
Only small teams try to make up excuses about refereeing after a loss and that’s what we have become. Nevermind the fact that Leverkusen dominated the game for a full hour and could have (and should have) scored 3 or 4 goals. The only reason we had a bit of momentum in the last 30 minutes is because Leverkusen players got a bit tired and allowed us the ball more. Otherwise, we were tactically outplayed the entire game.
Did the dude really use beat for Meet the Grahams? Menacing LOL 🤣🤣
Also part of the dubious decisions was during the walk out with the ball girl lol..fun times