Former Bundesliga referee Manuel Gräfe has criticised the Spanish VAR officials overseeing Bayern Munich's Champions League semi-final first leg against Paris Saint-Germain, claiming they were primarily responsible for the controversial penalty awarded against Alphonso Davies. According to Gräfe, who spoke to German publication BILD, the decision to intervene for the 60th-minute incident, which saw Davies penalised for a challenge on Ousmane Dembélé, was incorrect. The spot-kick, converted by Kylian Mbappé, proved crucial in a frantic 5-4 aggregate defeat for the German champions at the Allianz Arena.
Grafé, 52, refrained from placing significant blame on the on-field referee, Switzerland's Sandro Schärer, due to the intense pressure of the moment. "For me the main error lies with the VAR team, because it was at least not a crystal-clear wrong decision to let it continue on the pitch here," Gräfe explained. He argued that the contact was insufficient to warrant a VAR review, suggesting Schärer was put in a difficult position when sent to the pitchside monitor. "As such, the intervention was wrong in my view," Gräfe stated, though he conceded that Schärer, as the final arbiter, bears ultimate responsibility.
The incident has ignited debate around the application of VAR in high-stakes matches, with many Bayern supporters feeling aggrieved. Davies, the Canadian left-back, was adjudged to have fouled Dembélé just inside the area after a lengthy review, a call that shifted momentum in a tie that had seen Bayern fight back from a two-goal deficit. Gräfe did offer some praise for the officiating team, noting they correctly dismissed an earlier handball appeal against Bayern's Josip Stanisic. "With Pavlovic earlier, they had rightly let a handball on a cross in front of the body continue," he said.
Grafé expressed hope that the penalty would not prove decisive for the overall tie, with Bayern now facing a difficult task in the second leg in Paris next week. "So it's bitter, and let's hope this penalty isn't ultimately decisive for this tie," he added. The criticism from a respected former official adds to the scrutiny on UEFA's VAR protocols, particularly regarding the threshold for clear and obvious errors in penalty decisions. For Davies, who has been the subject of persistent transfer speculation linking him with Real Madrid, the match was a high-profile moment of misfortune in an otherwise strong individual campaign.
