Look, there’s typically nothing wrong about asking for Erling Haaland’s autograph.
The Borussia Dortmund star is already one of the best players of world, and odds are he’s only going to get better at just 20 years old. That’s the kind of guy whose autograph you want.
Unless you’re a Champions League referee. Whose crew just blew an enormous call against Haaland’s team.
When not to ask for Erling Haaland’s autograph
Following Dortmund’s 2-1 loss to Manchester City in the first leg of a Champions League quarterfinal, a referee’s assistant was seen on video following Haaland into the tunnel. After a quick back and forth, the assistant appeared to pull out two yellow cards for Haaland to sign.
Players of both teams walked past as it went down.
If Haaland looks a bit unenthusiastic in that video, it may be due to his team being down 2-1 when it should be tied 2-2 going into the second leg of the quarterfinal.
Rewind all the way back the first half, and you can see Dortmund’s Jude Bellingham hustling his way to what looked like the most open goal of his life. The midfielder rushed City goaltender Ederson and took advantage of a questionable touch to push the ball forward. A goal was certain.
And then a referee decided the contact had to have been a foul. Further replay showed there had been contact, but that was only Ederson’s foot getting Bellingham in the shin.
That heinous call ended up being quite costly, as Manchester City was up 2-1 at the end of their home leg. Dortmund will get a chance to come back next week in Germany, but they will have to score one more goal to pull off the upset.
Some have also noted this was the same referee crew involved in incident that saw Paris Saint-Germain and Istanbul Basaksehir walk off the field after the fourth official directed racist language toward one of Istanbul’s assistant coaches.
The official responsible for the slur, Sebastian Coltescu, remains suspended for the rest of the season, but it’s safe to say there have been better season for referee crews.
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