5 talking points from Barcelona’s disappointing Champions League exit

3) Two questionable penalty decisions by Anthony Taylor

The second leg was much less exciting from PSG’s end as the team had decided to defend in number and only play on counterattacks. The French Champions only had 27% possession all game and their only goal came from a rather debatable penalty. The ball was coming in from Sergino Dest‘s wing and it was a comfortable save for Marc Ter Stegen however, Clement Lenglet had tripped Mario Icarrdi unknowingly while trying to run into the box.

After a look at the VAR, Anthony Taylor deemed it as a punishable offense although Lenglet was clearly running into the box and it was not a deliberate foul on Icarrdi at all. The second controversy of the night came when Dest was hit by Navas on his face when the goalkeeper tried to collect the ball. His elbow hit Dest’s face and although it was unintentional, Taylor should have given the penalty as he had given Paris one as well. However, the referee decided that it was not a punishable offense and PSG got off scot-free. Had Barcelona gotten that penalty, the game could have ended differently.