Kasper Schmeichel has hit out at the officiating after Celtic were denied a penalty in controversial fashion during their 2-1 defeat to Bayern Munich at Celtic Park.
A lengthy VAR check took place in the second half after Arne Engels appeared to be fouled in the box, prompting the VAR team to advise the referee to review the incident on the pitchside monitor. Despite the extended review, the referee stuck with his original decision and waved play on, leaving Celtic fans inside the stadium stunned.
Schmeichel, speaking candidly in a post-match interview with his father, Peter Schmeichel, for CBS Sports, didn’t hold back in his criticism of the call.
“I don’t know what rules are in football anymore,” Schmeichel said. “I mean, what’s a penalty, what’s not a penalty? It’s literally whatever the referee has woken up and felt that day.”
Seeing the replay back, the Celtic goalkeeper was even more baffled by the decision.
“Oh my God. That looks like a penalty. It looks like a clear penalty. Had that been the other end, that was a pen.”
A penalty at that stage could have completely changed the momentum of the tie. Celtic went onto peg one back through Daizen Maeda but should we have already been 2-1 by that point?
With the second leg at the Allianz Arena next week, Celtic will now have to overturn the deficit in Germany. It’s a tough order and most likely an impossible task, but the players will go there and hold nothing back.
