RateTheRef

Games in Group G are dead rubbers completely… although I think this will be the first Azeri referee in the Champions League, which is an an achievement.

Massive games in Group D as all four teams can qualify.

Taylor’s game is important too for qualification, Oliver’s less so.

Quote from: TheThingFromLewes on Mon 31 Oct 2022 17:30

Games in Group G are dead rubbers completely… although I think this will be the first Azeri referee in the Champions League, which is an an achievement.

Massive games in Group D as all four teams can qualify.

Taylor’s game is important too for qualification, Oliver’s less so.

Is that the right way round in terms of Taylor's and Oliver's games or am I missing something?  I thought Shakhtar or Leipzig can qualify in Oliver's game, whereas Benfica are through and Maccabi are eliminated in Taylor's.  Out of interest, if Shakhtar beat Leipzig so they both finish on 9 points, what is the determining factor - goal difference overall, number of wins, results and goal difference in their 2 matches, or what?

Head to Head so Shakhtar will go through if they win.

Taylor’s game is important as Benefica can still win the group and Maccabi can still get Europa League

Thanks tef.  And I now see the relevance of Taylor's game too.

Olympique Marseille (FRA) - Tottenham (ENG)  | Group D
Referee: Szymon Marciniak (POL)
Assistant Referee 1: Paweł Sokolnicki (POL)
Assistant Referee 2: Tomasz Listkiewicz (POL)
Fourth Official: Tomasz Musial (POL)
Video Assistant Referee:Tomasz Kwiatkowski (POL)
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Bartosz Frankowski (POL)
UEFA Referee Observer: Martin Ingversson (SWE)
UEFA Delegate: Steen Dahrup (DEN)

Excellent performance from Marciniak last evening in the hot-house of Marseille. Let the game flow and played some excellent advantages. Ok, perhaps he was a tad lenient at times, but he never lost control and, in the intimidating atmosphere throughout, that was no bad thing. I particularly liked it when SM waved play on after Kane went down in the penalty area. It looked a stonewall penalty, but replays showed a foot on the ball and a clean last-gasp tackle. Even our Harry didn't moan at that one! A game of two halves and interesting how much work the AR on the far side had to do compared with his colleague on the near side. However, all decisions seemed correct. Good work, SM and team!

Quote from: Adam on Wed 02 Nov 2022 08:54

https://twitter.com/DaleJohnsonESPN/status/1587546003170766848?t=NOjyEjNgdI2EN_fKWB1eFw&s=19

I know I'm new to this forum but I have a question that some of you guys might be able to help me out with

I've been viewing RTR as a guest for around a year now and would see myself as being fairly up to date on refs and the laws of the game. However, I can't understand in the slightest why Ivan Kruzliak didn't give this as a pen after being sent for an OFR. The hands are in an unnatural position. I know he was just trying to protect the face but he shouldn't have his hands up there. Or am I just missing something?

Welcome Adam. Quite agree, a ridiculous decision from Kruzliak and I think Mr Kuipers will be putting something in his match report about this.

Under the LOTG, insofar as how I understand the handball law, it should 100% have been a penalty.

I also think though it's just about supportable for a non penalty - he didn't make himself bigger, he instinctively put his hands up to protect his face, which you can't really blame him for. Hands were above shoulder level but then so is his head. Now as to deliberate, you can argue either way - instinctive reaction to protect face = non deliberate but putting your hands up to protect your face = knowing the ball is going to hit there = deliberate.

It'll go down as an error, whether for him or the VAR or even both I don't know but I personally preferred the non pen call even though it was technically wrong.

PS Welcome Adam!

Quote from: Acme Thunderer on Wed 02 Nov 2022 09:06

Quote from: Adam on Wed 02 Nov 2022 08:54

https://twitter.com/DaleJohnsonESPN/status/1587546003170766848?t=NOjyEjNgdI2EN_fKWB1eFw&s=19

I know I'm new to this forum but I have a question that some of you guys might be able to help me out with

I've been viewing RTR as a guest for around a year now and would see myself as being fairly up to date on refs and the laws of the game. However, I can't understand in the slightest why Ivan Kruzliak didn't give this as a pen after being sent for an OFR. The hands are in an unnatural position. I know he was just trying to protect the face but he shouldn't have his hands up there. Or am I just missing something?

Welcome Adam. Quite agree, a ridiculous decision from Kruzliak and I think Mr Kuipers will be putting something in his match report about this.

Under the LOTG, insofar as how I understand the handball law, it should 100% have been a penalty.

I also think though it's just about supportable for a non penalty - he didn't make himself bigger, he instinctively put his hands up to protect his face, which you can't really blame him for. Hands were above shoulder level but then so is his head. Now as to deliberate, you can argue either way - instinctive reaction to protect face = non deliberate but putting your hands up to protect your face = knowing the ball is going to hit there = deliberate.

It'll go down as an error, whether for him or the VAR or even both I don't know but I personally preferred the non pen call even though it was technically wrong.

PS Welcome Adam!

Whilst this might have been wrong in (today's) Law not to award a penalty, morally this was the correct outcome.  Had the player not raised his hands to his face the ball would have hit him in the face, resulting in a head injury and an immediate stop in play followed by an uncontested drop-ball restart.

What actually happened was an attacking corner.  Surely that is a better outcome for the attacking team?

Italians tend to be hawkish on matters relating to handball, and it is therefore noteworthy that Graziano Cesari, the ex-FIFA referee who comments on refereeing issues on the Italian Mediaset channels, came down in favour of not giving a penalty.  Incidentally, because of the distance of the camera from the action the images on the television replays made it difficult to make out what exactly had happened.  I hope the images on the VAR monitors were somewhat sharper.

Sorry jad but I can't agree with you on this one. The ball was struck from some distance away and the player could in my view have blocked the ball with his head or back or got under it and flipped it over the bar with his head. We see this all the time. Players at that level now block with their hands behind their backs not in front of their faces. I'm still with Adam on this one.