It has not gone down in history because Real Madrid won their 14th Champions League trophy, but Karim Benzema‘s disallowed goal caused some controversy at half time.
Even today, many fans are still wondering why it didn’t make it onto the scoreboard. Here is the explanation, having consulted UEFA’s authoritative figures.
The first thing to say is that it is a very grey area. That explains why it took the VAR three minutes to confirm the decision that referee Clement Turpin and his assistant had made on the pitch. It was a final and they had to be sure.
Was Benzema offside?
The main concept that has to be understood is around how a player can be deemed to have ‘played’ the ball.
It was clear to many watching the replays that the ball had come off of Liverpool midfielder Fabinho before landing at the feet of Benzema, who took the opportunity.
They had to decide whether Fabinho had deliberately played that ball or if it had merely deflected off of him. Given it was part of a tackle with Fede Valverde, it was decided that he was not attempting to play the ball and therefore the offside against Benzema stands.
Deciding what Fabinho‘s intentions were is the aforementioned grey area. The referee’s interpretation on Saturday considered Fabinho to be diving to intercept Valverde‘s pass. And that is “touching” and not “playing”.
“A player in an offside position shall be deemed not to have taken advantage of that position when he receives the ball from an opponent who voluntarily plays the ball,” reads the wording of the rule.
Therein lies the concept of “playing” and not just “touching”.
Marca
